China: COSCO Considers Major Order of 10 Supertankers

The Chinese state-owned shipping operator China Ocean Shipping Group Co. (COSCO) is considering a major order of 10 supertankers aimed at building up the group’s fleet capacities amid rising oil imports of the country, Bloomberg reports.

According to managing director of tanker arm Dalian Ocean Shipping Co., Meng Qinglin, the plan is still at a very early stage of development to disclose further details.

In terms of the possible value of the order, an estimate can be made based on the data from shipbroker Clarkson Plc from the end of August, when a supertanker price amounted to $95 million.

As indicated by China’s General Administration of Customs, over the last five years China’s oil imports recorded a 66 percent increase, averaging 22.5 million tons a month from January to August.

On the other hand, in the last two months the overcapacity of VLCCs on global market has resulted in negative returns on the Saudi Arabia-Japan route, the London-based Baltic Exchange’s data shows. Namely, 2 million barrel capacity carriers are experiencing $1,437 daily losses.

[mappress]

World Maritime News Staff, September 21, 2012