Orient Overseas Container Line, commonly known as OOCL, is a container shipping and logistics service company with headquarters in Hong Kong. The company is incorporated in Hong Kong as Orient Overseas Container Line Limited and separately incorporated as Orient Overseas Container Line Inc. in Liberia. The latter was also re-domiciled to the Marshall Islands.
Overview
OOCL is a large integrated international container transportation, logistics and terminal company with offices in 70 countries. OOCL has 59 vessels of different classes, with capacity varying from to , including two ice-class vessels for extreme weather conditions.
OOCL is a member of the Grand Alliance formed in 1998. Its founder members are Hapag-Lloyd (Germany), NYK (Japan) and OOCL (Hong Kong).
History
OOCL was founded by C. Y. Tung in 1947 as the Orient Overseas Line. In 1969, OOL was the first Asian -based shipping line to transport containerized cargo across the Pacific. Consequently, the company was renamed Orient Overseas Container Line. In those days its Victory-class vessels could carry 300 TEU, a far cry from today's post-Panamax vessels. In April 2003, OOCL took delivery of the SX-Class OOCL Shenzhen, then the largest containership ever built at 8,063 TEU. In 2006, it lost its title to the Emma Mærsk. At its peak, OOCL had a fleet of over 150 freight ships, with a cargo capacity exceeding 10 million tons; it was one of the world's top seven shipping lines. At one stage it owned the Seawise Giant, the largest ship ever built, having bought it from the shipyard when the previous owners refused delivery.
After C. Y. Tung's death in 1982, C. H. Tung, assumed the leadership of Orient Overseas (International) Limited (OOIL), OOCL's parent company for 14 years.
The company declared bankruptcy in the mid-1980s and the mainland-based Bank of China provided $50 million of the $120 million put together by Henry Fok Another big contributor to the OOCL bailout was China Merchants, a Hong Kong arm of China's transport ministry.
In 1996, C. C. Tung took over at the helm on his brother C. H. Tung's election as Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
OOCL briefly operated passenger ships acquiring the Ruahine, Rangitoto and Rangitane from the New Zealand Shipping Company that were renamed Oriental Rio, Oriental Carnival and Oriental Esmeralda to operate round the world services. The service ceased in 1976.
In September 1970, Tung purchased the ocean liner to convert it into a floating university, to be known as Seawise University, as part of the World Campus Afloat programme. On 9 January 1972, the ship caught fire during refurbishing and sank in Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour and the wreckage had to be scrapped three years later.
In 2003, OOCL lost one of its senior executives, Courtenay Allan, the company's Transatlantic Trade Director. Allan died after falling down a lift shaft on the OOCL Montreal in Le Havre.
In recent years, OOCL has taken over a number of well-known shipping lines. These include Furness Withy, Houlder Brothers, Manchester Liners, Shaw Savill, PSNC, Prince Line & the Alexander Shipping Company.
In 2015, OOCL ordered six of the largest container ships, holding up to 20,150 TEU each. The first of these, the OOCL Hong Kong, was christened on 12 May 2017. The ship became the world's first container ship to exceed 21,000 TEU mark and achieved a Guinness World Record.
In July 2017, the parent company, OOIL, received a US$6.3 billion take over bid from its Chinese rival, COSCO Shipping. The bid has been accepted subject to shareholder and regulatory approval. The takeover was completed in 2018.
In 2018, COSCO SHIPPING Holdings acquired Hong Kong-based OOIL, the parent of OOCL, for US$6.3 billion
On July 25, 2019, OOCL Hong Kong, the lead ship of the six G-class units and once the world’s largest container ship, visited Hong Kong to mark the 50th anniversary of Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL).
In May 2023, the 24,188 TEU OOCL Spain, which is among the world's biggest container ships, made its first call at the Port of Hamburg.
Liner Services
OOCL offers around 78 weekly services around the world. Linking Asia, Europe, North America, the Mediterranean, the Indian sub-continent, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand.
Container Terminals
OOCL affiliated companies own or operate dedicated container terminals in North America and Asia, namely: Long Beach Container Terminal in California and KAOCT in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.