Orient Overseas buys ships

Orient Overseas (International), owner of the eighth- largest Asian container shipping line, placed a $477 million order for four vessels from Samsung Heavy Industries to expand its fleet, Orient said Monday.

The ships, which can each carry about 8,063 standard 20-foot, or six- meter, containers, will be delivered between 2009 and 2010 by Samsung Heavy, the world’s third-biggest shipyard, Orient Overseas said in a statement from Hong Kong.