On September 29, COSCO SHIPPING Specialized Carriers announced that it has commissioned COSCO SHIPPING Heavy Industry (Dalian), a subsidiary of COSCO SHIPPING Heavy Industry, to build eight 60,000 DWT multi-purpose heavy-lift vessels. The order is being placed through its wholly-owned subsidiary, COSCOL HK Investment & Development, or an affiliated entity. The total contract price is capped at RMB 2.624 billion (excluding tax; approximately $392 million), translating to a maximum cost of RMB 328 million (approximately $49 million) per vessel. Delivery and entry into service are scheduled to take place successively between 2029 and 2030.
COSCO SHIPPING Specialized Carriers stated that, against the backdrop of the accelerating global energy infrastructure transition and the expansion of China’s advanced manufacturing sector overseas, demand for the transportation of specialized general cargo—such as wind power equipment, machinery, and engineering project cargo—will continue to grow over the long term, opening up broad market prospects for the company’s specialized cargo transportation business.
COSCO SHIPPING Specialized Carriers emphasized that multi-purpose heavy-lift vessels are one of the company’s core businesses. Given the future market outlook for specialized transportation, the company still faces a capacity shortfall in this segment. Implementing the shipbuilding project through this transaction will enable the company to fully capitalize on the favorable opportunities presented by the promising development prospects of the advanced manufacturing market, further optimize its capacity structure, maintain the competitiveness of its fleet, and enhance overall profitability and shareholder returns.
COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry is the industrial platform for ship repair, shipbuilding, and offshore engineering equipment manufacturing under the COSCO Shipping Group. COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry (Dalian) is a core equipment manufacturing enterprise under COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry. Leveraging the strong resources and technological advantages of COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry, it has specialized in ship and offshore engineering repair and modification for over 30 years. The company has achieved outstanding results in the modification and construction of offshore engineering equipment, the construction of special-purpose vessels, and the design and construction of non-ship products and functional modules, and leads the country in the number of completed FPSO modifications.
To address the shortage of multi-purpose heavy-lift vessel capacity, COSCO SHIPPING Specialized Carriers recently announced an investment in CSSC Chengxi Shipyard to build eight 60,000 DWT multi-purpose heavy-lift vessels. The total contract value does not exceed 2.624 billion yuan (excluding tax, approximately $392 million), and the vessels are expected to be delivered and put into service between April 2029 and June 2030.