OOIL orders six container vessels from Samsung

 (Reuters) - Orient Overseas (International) Ltd said last week it has ordered four new container ships from Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries Co Ltd for a total of $544 million.

The new order for the ships, which can carry 13,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) each, followed a deal between OOIL and Samsung signed in March to build six container vessels of the same size for $816 million.

OOIL, a Hong Kong-based container shipping firm, was arranging bank financing to help fund the new order, it said in a statement with the Hong Kong stock exchange.

 The ships were expected to be delivered in 2013 and 2014.