Orient Overseas (International) (OOIL), the parent company of Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL), said its profits had risen 32% year on year (y/y) to USD238.6 million in the first six months of 2015, due to lower bunker fuel costs.
Revenues fell 6% y/y to USD3.0 billion during the same period, a stock filing of OOIL said on 10 August.
OOCL’s average revenue per teu fell 4% y/y as average revenue levels in some trade routes reached new lows since the outbreak of the shipping recession.
The bunker fuel cost dropped 38% y/y as the average price of bunker recorded by OOCL decreased 41% y/y to USD352/tonne in the first six months of 2015.
The group took delivery of its fifth and sixth SX-class 8,888 teu vessels from Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding in Shanghai, namely OOCL Taipei and OOCL Utah. There are two remaining vessels from this series, both of which are to be delivered in the second half of 2015.
“The industry is hopeful that positive trade growth, especially in the trans-Pacific and trans-Atlantic trades, and to a degree in the intra-Asia trade, will provide support to the underlying market,” OOCL said.
This post was sourced from IHS Maritime 360: View the original article here.
