Eight Feeders in the Making for CNCo

The China Navigation Company Pte. Ltd (CNCo), a wholly-owned ship owning and operating arm of the Swire Group, is set to expand its feeder fleet with eight newbuilds in the next two years.

The ships are being built at the China State Shipbuilding Corporation’s Wenchong shipyard, starting delivery in 2019 and continuing into 2020.

The initial four 2,400 TEU vessels were ordered from Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding in 2017 to replace tonnage that will be phased out between 2019 and 2020. The company subsequently declared options attached to this order for four more 2,750 TEU vessels which will be delivered in 2020.

“China’s growth as a major player in the shipbuilding industry has truly been remarkable. The partnerships we have established with key Chinese shipbuilders is testimony of this growth,” James Woodrow, Managing Director of CNCo, said at the opening of the company headquarters in Shanghai, China, on November 5.

“We will continue to assess modern and fuel-efficient designs to provide an industry-leading product to our customers in China far into the future.”

“With our Shanghai office now being a full-fledged operating subsidiary as well as our other offices in Qingdao, Beijing and Guangzhou, we are even more confident of delivering innovative and sustainable shipping solutions that will meet the needs of our customers,” Randy Selvaratnam, country manager, added.

Headquartered in Singapore, CNCo owns and manages more than 130 vessels through its three core divisions – Swire Shipping, Swire Bulk and Swire Bulk Logistics. Out of these, 37 ships have been built in China.

The company offers four separate services from China covering the South Pacific Islands, New Zealand, and North Australia trades.