On June 19, Ningbo Ocean Shipping Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Ningbo Ocean Shipping”) issued the “Announcement on the Proposed Investment in the Construction of 4 Container Ships”.
The announcement disclosed that Ningbo Ocean Shipping or its subsidiaries intend to invest no more than RMB 2 billion (approximately US$278 million) to build four 4,300TEU container ships. The sources of funds for this investment in shipbuilding include but are not limited to the company’s own funds and self-raised funds. This transaction will select the shipbuilding manufacturer through bidding, sign relevant contracts and other matters related to the planned shipbuilding. It is not yet possible to determine whether it constitutes a related transaction.
In accordance with the overall operational plan for the ships, Ningbo Ocean Shipping intends to operate four 2,700 TEU container ships and/or four 4,300 TEU container ships through the company itself or its subsidiaries (including existing or newly established subsidiaries). Specific operational entities and other matters will be submitted to the company’s shareholders’ meeting for authorization by the board of directors for further review.
Ningbo Ocean Shipping stated that this investment in shipbuilding will help further optimize the company’s fleet structure, expand the fleet scale, actively build a high-standard fleet with a reasonable structure and strong competitiveness, continuously strengthen the company’s route service capabilities, and continuously enhance the company’s market competitiveness.
It is worth noting that this is the second time that Ningbo Ocean Shipping has disclosed its new shipbuilding investment plan this year. On April 30, the company announced that the company or its subsidiaries intend to invest no more than RMB 1.4 billion to build four 2,700TEU container ships. Subsequent bidding results show that CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding successfully won the bid for the construction of four 2,700TEU container ships, with each ship costing RMB 324 million.
Public data shows that Ningbo Zhoushan Port, the core port of Ningbo Ocean Shipping, is an important container ocean trunk port in mainland China, and also an important domestic iron ore transshipment base and crude oil transshipment base. With Ningbo Zhoushan Port as the core, the company has built a route system radiating near-sea, trans-oceanic, coastal and river routes, covering 49 major ports at home and abroad.
According to Alphaliner statistics, by the end of the first quarter of 2025, COSCO Ningbo Shipping ranked 24th in the world’s top 100 container liner companies. As the largest container liner company in Zhejiang Province, COSCO Ningbo Shipping’s fleet size has always been highly matched with the development of shipping capacity demand. It operates a total of 101 ships, forming a comprehensive fleet with gradient complementarity of 3,000-ton to 58,000-ton container ships and a certain number of bulk carriers (10 ships). Diversified ship types ensure the flexibility of capacity supply and ensure the efficiency and stability of flight operation schedules.