“Growth in the transpacific has consistently exceeded industry expectations,” said Ron Widdows, CEO of APL, the container transportation arm of Neptune Orient Lines (NOL). Acknowledging the gap between supply and demand for ocean capacity in the transpacific would narrow between 2007 and 2009, APL announced a charter agreement for five new post-Panamax container vessels. Each has a nominal capacity of 7,000 twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEUs). The company expect to deploy the ships in the transpacific trade from 2009.
Elsewhere in Southeast Asia, express and logistics company DHL announced four initiatives in Vietnam. Part of a $14 million investment program announced in November 2006, they include a $6.5 million investment in service centers in Dong Nai and Ha Noi. Two courier depots in Da Nang and Hai Phong are also included in the expansion.
