Seatrade Maritime: COSCO Shipping Development splashes RMB12.4 bn on 29 newbuilds

COSCO Shipping Development has announced a massive fleet expansion plan amounting to RMB12.4bn ($1.75bn).

The company will build twenty-three 87,000 dwt bulk carriers from COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry (Dalian) and six 307,000 dwt VLCCs from Dalian Shipbuilding Industry.

“The company actively responds to the green and low-carbon development trend of the shipping industry, and actively serves the national energy transportation security strategy, which continues to implement its strategic development plan for a shipping industry-finance operator, and enhances its value discovery and value creation capabilities,” said COSCO Shipping Development.

Through the transactions, the company said it will expand the scale and improve the quality of its ship assets, strengthening the foundation of the development of its vessel leasing business.

“At the same time, by investing in high-quality shipping capacity featuring newer vessels with green, environmentally friendly, well-configured and highly versatile specifications, the company demonstrates its support for global energy conservation, emission reduction and sustainable development strategies, and contributes to the transformation and upgrade of traditional industries,” said COSCO Shipping Development.

In addition, the company will deepen collaboration with upstream and downstream enterprises along the shipping industry chain to explore use cases for RMB in “manufacturing, leasing and shipping”, further advancing the implementation of the use of RMB in the international shipping sector and enhancing its market competitiveness.

The 29 vessels are expected to be delivered during 2027 and 2028.