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Photo: © Miraswonderland, Dreamstime.com

Chinese shipping line Cosco has continued its extensive newbuilding programme, finalising a £7bn shipbuilding agreement covering 87 vessels with China State Shipbuilding.

Cosco is the world’s fourth-largest container line, with a fleet of 3.5m teu capacity and an orderbook of 1.2m teu.

Maritime consultant Lars Jensen noted: “Including orderbooks, CMA CGM is on track to overtake Maersk as the world’s second-largest carrier and on track to reach a size of 5.4m teu. If Cosco’s newly placed orders approach 700,000 teu, that would put it in the race to potentially also overtake Maersk.

“Of course, that’s with the strong caveat that carriers also adjust fleet size by buying and selling vessels secondhand as well as vary the portion of their fleet on charter,” he said.

Riviera News reports.

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