 | |
Native name | 中国远洋运输有限公司 |
|---|---|
| Formerly | China Ocean Shipping (Group) Corporation |
| Company type | Subsidiary;state-owned |
| Industry | Transportation |
| Founded | April 27, 1961; 63 years ago (1961-04-27) |
| Defunct | 2016 |
| Fate | became a subsidiary |
| Successor | China COSCO Shipping |
| Headquarters | , China |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Services | Freight forwarding Shipbuilding Ship repairing Terminal operations |
| Website | cosco.com (archived) |
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China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) was a former shipping corporation from 1961 to 2016, owned by theState Council of China. The company merged withChina Shipping Group Company to formChina COSCO Shipping Corporation in January 2016.
COSCO was founded in 1961 as a state-ownedshipping andlogistics services supplier company.[1]
COSCO headquarters is in Ocean Plaza in theXicheng District inBeijing.[2][3] It owns 1114 ships, including 365 dry bulk vessels, a container fleet with a capacity of 1,580,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU), and a tanker fleet of 120 vessels.[4] The fleet calls at over a thousand ports worldwide.[5] It ranks among the largest in both number ofcontainer ships and aggregate container volume in the world.[6] In 2012, it was among China's top 15 brands.[7]
It was the largest dry bulk carrier in China and one of the largest dry bulk shipping operators worldwide. In addition, the Group is the largest liner carrier in China.[8]
COSCO division COSCO Shipping Port Company manages the company's port operations.[9]: 68
China Ocean Shipping Company, or COSCO in short, was founded in 1961 as a Chinesegovernment agency. In the same year, a subsidiary was formed in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province. The Guangzhou subsidiary purchased a British vessel and renamed it asGuanghua (Chinese:光华).Guanghua made its maiden voyage to Jakarta for the People's Republic of China in April 1961.[10]
After the USresumed diplomatic relations with China in the 1970s, China Ocean Shipping Company signed an agreement with American companyLykes Brothers Steamship Company in 1979. The agreement opens the commercial sea routes between the United States and the People's Republic of China.[11] In the same year, COSCO became the Chinese side representative to collaborate withInternational Telephone and Telegraph on repairing the communication facilities in the coastal cities of China.[12]
In 1981, COSCO won a contract from the Pakistani Government owned National Tanker Company of Pakistan, for crude oil transport.[13]
In 1991 COSCO was asked by the USFederal Maritime Commission (FMC) to submit information regarding Chinese Government restricting U.S.-flag carriers on doing business in China. COSCO asked FMC to drop its probe instead.[14] FMC also investigated COSCO for its pricing behavior in 1997, but stated there was not enough evidence to launch a formal probe on alleged under-pricing its service to eliminate competitor.[15]
In August 1993, COSCO's shipYinhe, was anchored off the coast ofOman. US government alleged that the ship carried material exported to Iran, which could be used to make chemical weapons. COSCO claimed that the ship only contained "paper goods, hardware and machine parts".[16] In what became known as theYinhe incident, United States military vessels and aircraft followed theYinhe, disrupting its normal travel route.[17]: 69 The United States unilaterally disabled theYinhe's civilian GPS, causing it lose direction and anchor on the high seas for twenty-four days until it agreed to inspection.[18][19] TheYinhe experienced shortages of water and fuel.[17]: 69–70 The inspection, which occurred in Saudi Arabia did not find any improper chemicals[20] and on September 4, representatives of the Chinese, Saudi and United States governments jointly signed a certification that the ship's cargo did not contain materials related to chemical weapons.[21]: 54
The company became aholding company and renamed as China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company in 1993.[22][non-primary source needed] Two other government owned companies, China Marine Bunker Supply Company (Chimbusco in short) and China Road Transport Company, which engaged in oil tanker and road transport businesses respectively, became the subsidiaries of the group in 1988 and 1992[23] respectively. China Road Transport Company was renamed into COSCO Logistics in 2001 (now part of COSCO Shipping Logistics). As of 2003, COSCO Logistics engaged in shipping agency, freight forwarding, third party logistics and supporting services.[23][non-primary source needed] While Chimbusco became a joint venture withPetroChina since 2003.[24]
COSCO has a Hong Kong division which the division acquired a HK-listed companyShun Shing Holdings[a] in February 1997.[25] Hong Kong was a British colony until June 30, 1997, and has been aspecial administrative region of China with a separate jurisdiction system since July 1. Another subsidiary of COSCO HK at that time,[25]COSCO Pacific,[b] was a HK-listed company since 1994. COSCO Pacific has a joint venture withHongkong International Terminals Limited, which operates a terminal inKwai Tsing Container Terminals, Hong Kong since 1991.[26] COSCO Pacific acquired 49% stake of COSCO Logistics from the parent company in 2003. COSCO retained the remaining 51%.[23] COSCO Pacific also owned 20% stake of Hong Kong-basedChong Hing Bank from 1997[27] to 2007. In 2007 the stake was sold to the parent company, COSCO HK.[28][29]
In 1995, another subsidiary, COSCO Corporation (Singapore) Limited,[c] became a listed company in Singapore Exchange.[30] The company was a component ofStraits Times Index until 2010.[31]
COSCO acquired aShanghai-listed company in 1997 as a vehicle ofbackdoor listing. It becameCOSCO Development,[d] which engaged in real estate. The direct parent company of COSCO Development was sold in 2005, thus COSCO Development was no longer part of the COSCO Group.[32] Also in 2005, COSCO Group acquired a company from COSCO Development.[33] That company was the operator ofBoao Forum for Asia.[22][non-primary source needed]
In 1997,Dianne Feinstein andBarbara Boxer, United States senators from California, had asked theClinton administration to investigate COSCO's leasing ona former naval base in Long Beach. The site was developed into a container port terminal, Pacific Container Terminal.[34]
In 2002, another subsidiary,COSCO Shipping Co., Ltd.,[e] became a listed company in Shanghai.
In 2004, COSCO formed a joint venture with fellowCentral Government ownedAnsteel Group (Angang Group).[35]
In 2005, the flagship subsidiary of COSCO,China COSCO Holdings, became a listed company.[36] TheA share of China COSCO Holdings was listed in Shanghai since 2007.[37]
After the post-2008 financial crisis collapse of global shipping, COSCO began gradually acquiring the Greek port ofPiraeus.[9]: 68 Under COSCO, Piraeus has become a busy port, rising from traffic of 400,000 containers in 2008 to nearly five million containers in 2018.[9]: 68 Most European trade with China occurs via Greek ships, including through Piraeus.[9]: 68
During the2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, most shipping companies halted all container shipping to Russia, except for basic food products, medicine and humanitarian aid. The exception is COSCO which continues to ship to Russia, and was the largest shipping company to do so.[38]
In 2005, a smaller Central Government owned company, China Ocean Shipping Tally (known asChina Tally in short), was merged into COSCO Group.[39]
In 2008, China COSCO Holdings was part ofFinancial Times Global 500 for the first time.[40]
By 2015, after more than 5 decades, COSCO Group expanded into one of the major shipping company of the country. It also had a few listed subsidiaries: COSCO Pacific,COSCO International Holdings,China COSCO Holdings,China International Marine Containers, etc., . Real estate developer,Sino-Ocean Group, was an associate company of COSCO until 2010.
In December 2015, COSCO Group merged with fellow Chinese Government ownedChina Shipping Group[41] to form China COSCO Shipping. COSCO Group was retained as an intermediateholding company.
In December 2017, COSCO Group (China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company) was re-incorporated from "An industrial enterprise owned by the whole people" to simply alimited company. The name of the company, also changed to China Ocean Shipping Company, Limited (Chinese:中国远洋运输有限公司).[42]
COSCO contains several listed companies and has more than 300[citation needed]subsidiaries locally and abroad, providing services infreight forwarding,ship building, ship repair, terminal operation, container manufacturing, trade, financing,real estate, andinformation technology.[43]
On the eve of 2015 merger, COSCO Group has a fewlisted companies:[44]
Moreover,China International Marine Containers is an associate company of the group, which COSCO indirectly owned 22.77% shares of that listed company as of December 2015.[48] The stake was owned by COSCO Pacific until 2013.[49]
As of 2000, COSCO also owned 30% stake ofChina Cargo Airlines.[50]
COSCO also had an unlisted business unit in Hong Kong, which was known as COSCO (Hong Kong) Group Limited. COSCO (H.K.) Group was the direct parent company of COSCO Pacific (valid until December 2004[51][52]) andCOSCO International.[46] COSCO (H.K.) Group bought the 20% stake ofChong Hing Bank and the entire stake of Shun Shing Construction fromCOSCO Pacific[28][29] andCOSCO International[53] respectively in 2007.
On 31 July 2009, thePanama-flaggedbulk carrier,Full City, operated by COSCO Group's HK division,[54] experienced engine failure and ran aground nearLangesund,Telemark,Norway, during a storm, spilling 200 tons ofheavy bunker fuel oil in an ecologically and environmentally sensitive wildlife area.[55]
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