Hyundai Merchant inks container ship deal

SEOUL, Aug. 23 (Yonhap) -- Hyundai Merchant Marine Co., a South Korean shipping firm, said Tuesday that it has signed a deal with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. for the construction of five new container ships.
Under the deal, Hyundai Merchant will receive the first of the five vessels, which can each carry 13,100 20-foot containers, in the first quarter of 2014, according to the shipping line.
Hyundai Merchant said earlier it would spend around 700 billion won (US$644 million) on the construction of the ships, which will be used for Asia-Europe trade.
The shipping company also plans to deploy the vessels for other routes.
Shares of Hyundai Merchant were trading at 26,650 won on the Seoul bourse as of 1:50 p.m., up 3.9 percent.
sam@yna.co.kr