China Shipping planning to join tanker pool
State-owned China Shipping is reportedly planning to order 10 new very VLCCs and has an option for 10 more, as it prepares to join a joint venture aimed at giving China more control over its energy supply chain, Seatrade Asia online reports.
China is the world's second largest crude consumer and imported more than 5m barrels per day last year.
The latest move seems aimed at getting more Chinese-owned vessels into this trade. Currently, just a third of China's crude imports are carried on Chinese ships. The government wants this proportion to increase to more than half by end-2015. The ordering spree would also be a boon to struggling Chinese yards, and a less obvious means of state support.
The VLCCs, the largest type of tanker in the global fleet, would be China Shipping's contribution to a newly established, independent company that would also include ships from Cosco Group, China Merchants Energy Shipping Co. Ltd and Nanjing Tanker Corp.
According to local media reports, the company would have a total of 50 new VLCCs, with Cosco's shipping unit Dalian Ocean Shipping Company contributing 20 tankers and the other firms contributing 10 vessels each.