News / NBOSCO targets flourishing intra-Asia trade with a foothold in Singapore

Ningbo Ocean Shipping (NBOSCO), the liner shipping unit of China’s Ningbo-Zhoushan Port Group, has recently established subsidiaries in Singapore to tap into the growth in intra-Asia shipping.

The group told the Shanghai Stock Exchange it had incorporated subsidiaries Ningbo Ocean Shipping (Singapore) Latitude and Ningbo Ocean Shipping (Singapore) Longitude.

The intra-Asia carrier said the two entities would assume ownership of its latest newbuilding orders for four 4,300 teu shps and four 2,700 teu ships being built at CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding for delivery in 2029.

The 25th-ranked shipping line plans to register the newbuildings under the Singapore flag, which requires the vessels to be owned by Singapore-incorporated entities.

With intra-Asia shipping still in the peak of health, NBOSCO, which has expanded its traditional focus on East Asia into the Middle East, wants to tap into Singapore’s status as an international maritime centre to boost its service network. Income from operating Singapore-flagged ships is exempt from corporate tax in the city state.

Container Trade Statistics show intra-Asia volumes totalled 28.45m teu in the first seven months of this year, with average year-on-year growth of 5.8%, and Xeneta’s chief analyst, Peter Sand, told The Loadstar the trade continued to enjoy the largest growth in container shipping.

However, he does not think there is a switch in focus to intra-Asia shipping; rather, the specialists in this lane are consolidating their strengths.

Mr Sand said: “I don’t think shipping lines are refocusing, they have always paid attention to this market, at least the small-to-medium-sized carriers mainly operating within Asia. Top 10 carriers would look at intra-Asia shipping only if it serves a bigger purpose – as in optimising or removing obstacles that negatively affected them on the ex-Asia network.”

NBOSCO’s H1 25 revenue was up 20% year on year, to CNY2.93bn ($408.9m), while net profit rose 37%, to CNY377.95m ($52.8m).