Evergreen planning fleet expansion

Having not ordered any new ships for several years, Evergreen reportedly has been contacting shipbuilders in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. The Taiwan-based shipbuilder CSBC Corp. will offer quotations by the end of April.

Evergreen currently is the world`s fourth-largest shipper and said its maritime operations will likely turn profitable this year. Evergreen Marine’s president, C.C. Hsieh, said the company has begun generating profits on the Asia-Europe shipping route and rising freight rates are likely to enable the company to be profitable on shipping service along Asia-America routes in the third quarter of this year. Noting uncertainty for the fourth quarter, Hsieh says Evergreen may break even and be modestly profitable this year.