Big Orders for Carriers and Ro-Ros from Wilh. Wilhemsen ASA

Wilh. Wilhelmsen and Wallenius place large newbuilding orders in Korea

Feb. '08 (WW )

Wilh. Wilhelmsen (WW) and Wallenius Lines (OW) have agreed to buy eight new large car and truck carriers (LCTC), four from Hyundai Heavy Industries and four from Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.

The LCTCs will be deployed in WW and OW’s joint venture Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics' global trade. The vessels will be 228 meters long and have a car carrying capacity of 8 000 units. The vessels will have the latest design, to meet the service and cargo requirements of Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics' customers. Seven of the vessels will be delivered in 2011 and one will be delivered in 2012.

Having environment as a top priority, the vessels will have environment-friendly technology, reducing emissions to the air and to the sea.

WW and OW will own four vessels each.

“These contracts are true to our strategy of strengthening our unique market position through the building of advanced vessels specially designed to meet our customers’ needs”, says group chief executive Ingar Skaug at WW. “The orders will contribute to meet our continuous need to expand the fleet and also to secure our position in emerging markets.”

In order to ensure new and modern tonnage, WW and OW are pursuing an extensive newbuilding programme. The order book for the group of companies currently comprises some 45 vessels to be delivered through 2012.

News above is in addition to the four Ro-Ro's -- reputed to become the world's largest -- ordered by the same company from Mitsubishi Industries in Japan. The new vessels will have a cargo capacity of 138,000 cubic meters, roughly 10% greater than the next largest vessel.

-seabgb