Next major order in China: the state-owned shipping company Cosco is expanding its bulk carrier fleet with 15 bulk carriers. The ships will be chartered out to a subsidiary on a long-term basis.
The contract was approved by Cosco Shipping Development and has a domestic transaction value of 7.92 billion renminbi yuan (RMB). This is equivalent to approximately $1.1 billion. The price for each of the 15 vessels is 528 million RMB, or approximately $78 million. According to Cosco, 25 per cent of the total will be funded from its own resources, with the remaining 75 per cent to be financed through bank loans.
Cosco is dividing the orders between two Chinese shipyards: ten of the vessels will be built at Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding, and the remaining five at Nantong Xiangyu Shipyard. According to reports, the vessels are of the Newcastlemax class and have a deadweight tonnage of 210,000 dwt. Delivery of the newbuilds is scheduled for 2030.
The vessels are initially to be powered by conventional fuels, although they have already been designed so that they can be retrofitted at a later date for dual-fuel operation using ammonia or methanol. They will be chartered to the subsidiary Cosco Shipping Bulk under a long-term 20-year contract; the charter rate is approximately 60 million RMB ($8.9 million).
With this new order, Cosco is continuing to expand its bulk fleet. As recently as early July, the state-owned shipping company announced an order for a total of 24 bulk carriers, which are also due to be delivered by 2030. The vessels – primarily grain carriers – will be built at Cosco’s own shipyards.
In the container segment, too, the world’s fourth-largest liner shipping company has recently ordered an almost unprecedented number of vessels. In December 2025, the company placed an order for almost 90 new vessels worth over $6 billion; this is the largest single order ever placed within China. A further 18 newbuilds followed in January 2026, with a total value of $2.7 billion.
