Beijing: The size of Cosco's owned and operated fleet has passed the 40m dwt mark with delivery of the tanker Lian Shen Hu on September 6, bringing its fleet to 687 vessels of 40.1m dwt, the company reports today on its website.
The announcement is believed to mark something of a departure for Cosco, which previously has preferred not to disclose the total capacity of its fleet.
Cosco says that continual 'expansion and optimization' of its fleet has taken place in recent years as a result of the 'rapid growth of Chinese raw materials and energy import demand.'
The company also claims that it thus becomes only the second shipowner in history to have reached the 40m dwt mark, confirming the position as world's second largest shipowner that it says it has enjoyed since 2003.
However, that position as the world's second-largest shipowner may be in dispute. Certainly it ranks below NYK, generally considered to be the world's largest shipowner, which has a fleet of 709 vessels of 42.6m dwt (as of March 31), according to the NYK website.
But Seatrade can reveal that fellow Japanese major MOL may in fact take the crown for the world's largest fleet, depending on which criteria are measured. It claims that the group operates a total fleet of 705 vessels of 45.4m dwt (as of June 22). [08/09/06]
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