NEPTUNE Orient Lines (NOL), which recently ordered four 4,400 TEU (20 ft equivalent unit) vessels from South Korea for a total of US$280 million, may order more vessels if the market improves, says a NOL executive.
NOL liner division director Ong Choo Kiat said the market was expected to improve by 1995, when NOL takes delivery of its new vessels being built at Samsung Heavy Industries.
''Our fleet, which is now five or six years old, will become younger with the new delivery reducing the average vessels' ages to three or four years,'' he said, adding that NOL was committed to a continuing fleet renewal programme.
Mr Ong said the new vessels, which would be placed either on the North America or European trade, would replace older, smaller ships, although the line had not yet decided which ships to phase out.
He predicted that this year's business would be better than last year by a ''small margin''.
In the liner business, Mr Ong said the service to North America was not as strong as expected, but he felt it had rationalised with the Transpacific Stabilisation Agreement (TSA) adjusting rates to market demand and reducing undercutting.
In the past five months, container business had improved over last year in terms of volume, he added.