Corporate
Significant Events  
2003

​Year 2003


December

On December 12, 2003, OOCL signed an agreement with Samsung Heavy Industries yesterday for two additional 8,063-TEUs SX Class vessels for delivery in 2007. This brings the total numbers of SX Class vessels ordered with Samsung to twelve. OOCL Shenzhen and OOCL Long Beach were delivered early this year.  The "S" (5,000 TEUs class) and "SX" Class of post-Panamax vessels will form the back bone of OOCL's fleet of modern containers vessels bringing economy and quality to our customers.

 
OOCL won Best Main Line Operator at the fifth Lloyd's List Maritime Asia Awards ceremony, held in Shanghai on 4 December. Mr. Philip Chow, COO, OOCLL, accepted the award on behalf of the company from Sandra Lee, Permanent Secretary for Economic Development and Labour, Hong Kong SAR, at the awards dinner which was attended by 450 top shipping executives. The two other finalists were APL and Maersk Sealand.

 
The Board of Directors of Orient Overseas International announced the following appointments with effect from 1 December, 2003:
  • Professor Richard Yue Chim Wong was appointed an Independent Non-Executive Director of the company; 
  • Mr. Philip Yiu Wah Chow was appointed a Director of the company; and 
  • Mr. Tsann Rong Chang, a Director of the company, was appointed Vice Chairman. The Board took the opportunity to welcome Mr. Philip Yiu Wah Chow and Professor Richard Yue Chim Wong to the Board and congratulated Mr. Tsann Rong Chang on his appointment as the Vice Chairman of the company.

October

Orient Overseas Development Limited obtained the occupation permit for Phase 2A Century Metropolis, GFA 27,000 sqm

September

On 25 September, 2003, the Company completed an off-market share repurchase of 15,922,000 shares from Fortwin Investment Limited and 31,035,088 shares from Sixpence Holdings Limited at a repurchase price of HK$9.80 per share (the "Share Repurchase").

Following the completion of the Share Repurchase, all the repurchased shares were cancelled and the total number of issued shares of the Company was reduced from 517,141,632 to 470,184,544. 

August

OOIL Group announced 2003 Interim Results on 20 August. A profit before taxation of US$88.7 million was recorded as compared with US$4.1 million for the same period last year. After taxation and minority interests, the Group reported a profit of US$79.5 million, an increase of US$78.5 million from the US$1.0 million earned during the first half of 2002.

 

OOCL (India) Private Limited (OIPL), a wholly owned subsidiary of OOCL was established as the general agent for OOCL in India with effect from 5 August, 2003. OIPL has its India head office in Mumbai, and branch offices in New Delhi and Chennai. This new agent took over all the shipping and customer-service functions from Volkart Fleming Shipping and Service Limited.

Orient Overseas (Shanghai) Investment Ltd, the wholly owned investment holding company of OODL in the PRC, was certified as Regional Headquarters of Multinational Enterprise by Shanghai Municipal Foreign Economic Relations and Trade Commission.

July

OOCL Long Beach, the second of the ten 8,063-TEU SX Class vessels to be delivered to OOCL from Samsung Heavy Industries, arrived at Long Beach Container Terminal, USA, on 25 July on its maiden port call at the Port of Long Beach. It became the largest container vessel ever berthed at the Port of Long Beach. OOCL Long Beach was deployed on OOCL's Asia/Europe Service.

Excavation work for Phase 2B Century Metropolis, GFA 57,000 sqm commenced.

June

Effective 1 July, Mr. Philip Chow was appointed the Chief Operating Officer of OOCLL, and Mr. Peter Leng President of North America and Director of OOCLL. Mr. Stephen Ng, Mr. Michael Kwok and Mr S.C. Tai were appointed Senior Vice President of Transpacific Trade, Director of Intra-Asia Territory and Acting General Manager of Fleet Management respectively, with effect from 1 August, 2003.

OOCL celebrated the European maiden calls of OOCL Shenzhen. OOCL Shenzhen, an SX Class vessel, has the largest declared capacity of the world at 8,063 TEUs. This led to OOCL Shenzhen being awarded the Guinness World Record as the largest containership in the world.

OOCL Sydney, a brand new container vessel of 2,762 TEUs, on her maiden voyage, arrived in Sydney on 5 June. The new vessel joined the new Australia China Express (ACE) service, jointly operated by OOCL and China Shipping, linking major ports in Australia with the growing markets of Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

May

OOCL Montreal was delivered to OOCL from Daewoo Shipbuilding and Engineering Co on 19 May, 2003. OOCL is a 4,402-TEU Ice-Strengthened vessel that was phased into the Gateway Express (GEX) Loop 1 Service on 30 June, 2003, with three sailings per week plying between the Port of Montreal and major European ports via the St. Lawrence River Gateway. OOCL Montreal became the largest ice-class container vessel ever to sail into the St. Lawrence River.
OOCL Shenzhen sailed into Modern Terminals at Kwai Chung, Hong Kong, China on 15 May, 2003, on her maiden voyage to Europe.

OOCL Shenzhen, the largest vessel in the OOCL container fleet at 8,063 TEUs, sailed into Yantian Terminal, Shenzhen on her maiden voyage.

A completely new service, the "Australia China Express" (ACE) service was inaugurated by China Shipping and OOCL starting in the second week of May 2003, replacing the COZ service in serving customers' transportation and logistics needs between China and Australia.

April

OOCL celebrated the christening of OOCL Shenzhen at Koji Island, Korea, on 30 April, 2003. OOCL Shenzhen was the largest vessel ever built by Samsung Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. 

 

OOCL celebrated the fifth anniversary of its Scan Baltic Express (SBX) service. The service has grown steadily to meet customer demand and is now regarded as the leader in service quality in the region.

OOCL took every precautionary measure against the risk of SARS infection at offices and on board its vessels. OOCL also formulated and implemented contingency plans to ensure that its services were not interrupted in case of a SARS infection at its offices or vessels.
OOCL launched a new China/Straits Service (CSS) to enhance its service network for China, with the first sailing from Port Kelang on 10 April, 2003


March

OOIL announced results for 2002 on 14 March. A profit after taxation and minority interests of US$51.7 million for the year ended 31 December 2002 was recorded, a 16 percent decrease against that recorded for the corresponding period in 2001. The Directors recommended a final dividend of US2.5 cents (HK19.5 cents). The recommended final dividend of US2.5 cents (HK19.5 cents) maintained the dividend at the same level as that paid for the year of 2001 as a whole.

 
Hapag-Lloyd, OOCL and P&O Nedlloyd announced the start of a new dedicated Intra-Asia service, called the JTV (Japan-Thailand-Vietnam). It was launched on 15 March, 2003.

February

OOCL Xiamen, one of the four chartered-in vessels of OOCL in 2003, arrived in Hong Kong, China on 19 February, 2003, from the Port of Ningbo. The vessel was first deployed on the China Middle East Service (CMS) and was later phased into the Kanto Taiwan South China Express (KTX).

 
CC Tung officially opened OOCL House, Levington in UK on 19 February, 2003.