COSCO Shipping to bulk up with 80 new vessels

COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers Co, a unit of State-owned China COSCO Shipping Corp — based in Guangzhou, Guangdong province — will add more than 80 vessels with different functions into its fleet over the next two years, said a senior executive on Tuesday.

Driven by the upgrading and diversification of China's foreign trade products, these new ships, including 24 car carriers with operational capacities between 7,000 and 8,600 units, 20 pulp carriers and a number of heavy lifting ships, will expand COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers' fleet capacity to over 10 million deadweight tons by 2026.This expansion will further bolster China's ability to secure its supply chain.

The majority of the company's new vessel orders have been placed with domestic shipbuilders, including Xiamen Shipbuilding Industry Co Ltd based in Fujian province and Jiangsu province-based Chengxi Shipyard (Yangzhou) Co Ltd.