News / Geely splashes out to meet growing demand by chartering its own car-carrier

Jisu Fortune

Geely Automobile has become the latest Chinese electric vehicle (EV) original equipment manufacturer (OEM) to start operating car-carriers themselves.

The company, whose name is pronounced ‘Jili’ (Chinese for “auspicious”), has taken the newly built Jisu Fortune, a 7,000 ceu car-carrier, on long-term charter from Zodiac Maritime.

The LNG-fuelled vessel was delivered from Yantai CIMC Raffles Shipyard this month.

Jisu Fortune‘s maiden voyage is transporting Geely EVs to the UK, Netherlands and Belgium after leaving China’s Taicang port on 23 May, and is expected to arrive in Europe later this month.

Under-investment in the construction of car-carriers and higher levels of scrapping during Covid caused a shortage when vehicle demand rebounded post-pandemic. And this coincided with booming demand for the cheaper Chinese-made EVs.

This prompted Chinese OEMs like BYD, SAIC Motor and Chery to vertically integrate their supply chains, using their own or chartered car-carriers to transport their EVs.

Wary of the Chinese carmakers’ rise, the US and EU imposed tariffs on EVs imported from China, but that has not stunted their growth. In 2024, China exported a record two million EVs as its overall vehicle exports grew 19% year on year, to 5.86m.

Indeed, BYD overtook Tesla as the world’s largest EV seller in 2023.

Taicang Port director Shao Jianlin said Taicang was becoming a hub for China’s car exports, due to its strategic location in the Yangtze River Delta, and being home to the Haitong Taicang Auto Terminal, the largest ro-ro terminal on the river.

Huang Hao, general manager of Geely’s transportation unit, Zhejiang Jisu Logistics, said it would continue to widen its network to meet international demand for Chinese cars. The carmaker exported 414,522 units in 2024, up 57% year on year, exceeding its export target of 380,000.

Before chartering Jisu Fortune, Geely exported its vehicles by buying space from third-party car-carrier operators.