COSCO Launches World's Largest Oil Tanker Fleet
China's largest shipping company by fleet size China COSCO Shipping Co has officially launched COSCO Shipping Energy Transportation Co in Shanghai on Monday, creating the world's largest oil tanker fleet in terms of both ship numbers and deadweight tonnage, says a report in China.org.cn.
With a total of 105 oil tankers, including nine liquefied natural gas carriers and a deadweight tonnage of 17.04 million, the new company has the world's biggest fleet of oil tankers and the largest transport capacity of its kind.
The asset value of COSCO Shipping Energy Transportation accounts for 11 percent of COSCO Shipping's total assets, and its oil tanker fleet holds 20 percent of the group's entire shipping capacity.
COSCO Shipping Chairman Xu Lirong said that the establishment of the new company is a practical way to achieve business scale and synergies particularly in the sectors of energy shipping and logistics, in order to better compete with other established global rivals.
"This move is also part of ongoing restructuring of State-owned enterprises," Xu said.
The company has participated in investment and construction of 10 LNG vessels, of which six are controlled by the company,” the company website says. “These 10 vessels, which are expected to be delivered from 2015 to 2017, will bring steady income for the company.”
Local reports say that it was China Shipping Development (CSD) which renamed itself Cosco Shipping Energy Transportation, highlighting its focus on LNG and oil shipping.
CSD has also named Sun Jiakang its new president, replacing Xu Lirong, who is to focus instead on completing the mergers within China Cosco Shipping Group.
Founded in 1994, CSD is headquartered at Shanghai Free Zone and has a registered capital of Rmb3.5 billion (US$533 million), according to the company’s website. The group is positioning itself to deliver China’s LNG imports.
