Ocean carrier Neptune Orient Lines Ltd. has finalized $1.1 billion in loan agreements with financial institutions to cover the purchase of 14 on-order container vessels.
The Singapore-based parent of APL said in a statement Thursday to the Singapore Exchange that the recently secured financing covers the purchase of a dozen 8,400-TEU vessels which were ordered in December, as well as two 10,700-TEU vessels the carrier ordered in 2007.
The vessels are scheduled to be delivered in 2013 and 2014 for service with APL.
The most recent orders reflect the publicly-stated efforts of NOL, the seventh-largest shipping line in the world, to take advantage of vessel construction prices that have dropped significantly since the global economic meltdown that began in 2008.
Details of the loan terms, and the financial institutions involved, were not released.
