The country's largest container vessel, newly added to the fleet of China Shipping (Group) Co, set sail from Shanghai yesterday with goods bound for the West Coast of the United States.
This maiden voyage points up the dramatic business growth experienced by the Shanghai-based shipping company, whose revenues have increased by more than 200 percent over each of the past three years.
"The introduction of the new vessel is a milestone for China Shipping's container business," said company president Li Kelin. "In the future, we will definitely introduce more large-size box ships to our fleet and further expand our shipping capacity."
Just a week ago, the largest container vessel operated by a domestic carrier was a 5,250 TEU (20-foot equivalent unit) ship run by China's No. 1 shipper, China Ocean Shipping Co
The Shanghai-based company, the country's No. 2 carrier, surpassed that by leasing the new 5,500 TEU behemoth. (A TEU, the standard measurement for shipping capacity, is equivalent to the size of a 20-foot "box," or container, which, after its ocean voyage, can be hoisted onto the back of a truck.)
The leased vessel, christened CSCL Shanghai and owned by Greece's Costamare Co, was delivered a few days ago from South Korea's Hyundai Group to the port of Shanghai.
Established in 1997, China Shipping started its container operations with 12 vessels and a combined capacity of only a few thousand TEUs. Its container vessel fleet now comprises 103 ships with a total capacity above 120,000 TEUs.
To accommodate rapid business growth, the Shanghai-based carrier said it expects to increase capacity to 250,000 TEUs by the end of 2003.
Under the plan, some 39 new vessels - 13 5,500-TEU, 13 4,050-TEU and 13 2,500-TEU ships - will be acquired over the next three years, in cooperation with builders from China, South Korea, Germany and Poland.
Industry officials said larger vessels usually have a competitive edge over smaller ships. For example, the average cost for a box on a 5,500-TEU vessel is some US$150 to US$200, or 15 percent to 20 percent cheaper than one on a 3,000-TEU ship.
Li said global container capacity may grow by some 10 percent annual-ly over the next few years, certainly with more large ships being deployed.
(eastday.com 12/4/2000)
