Neptune Orient Lines will spend $1.2bn ordering 10 new 8,400 teu vessels for delivery in 2013 and 2014

The new era of slow steaming has forced containership lines to reconsider their ordering strategies as reduced sailing speeds require more vessels, according to APL president Eng Aik Meng.

"When you used to order ships for, say, the Europe-Asia trade lane it was eight ships to run a loop, whereas now it is probably 10 ships. So the way you think about ordering has changed," he says.

APL's parent group, Neptune Orient Lines, announced in July it would spend $1.2bn ordering 10 new 8,400 teu vessels for delivery in 2013 and 2014, with a letter of intent for two additional 10,700 teu ships, all of which will be built at South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.

Although Mr Eng says the larger vessels are not to add to routes that are already implementing slow steaming, and that their size is purely to expand capacity and replace chartered-in vessels leaving the fleet over the next few years, more consideration is required when contracting newbuildings.

He adds that shipyards have become more receptive to owners requesting environmentally friendly ship design and features that suit slow steaming.