China Shipping Container Lines (CSCL) has allowed options to lapse on a quartet of post-panamax vessels.
A 27 April deadline came and went without the Hong Kong-listed owner electing to order four 10,000-teu ships at Chinese yards Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding and Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co.
CSCL gave no reason for allowing the lapse of the options, which stem from an order for eight vessels at the yards last October.
CSCL posted a deficit of CNY 1.43bn ($226.48m) in the opening three months of 2012, a huge rise of 894% on the loss recorded a year earlier.