Cosco counts on fuel-efficient ships to cut costs, revive profits

[BEIJING] China Cosco Holdings Co, the container shipping line that posted three annual operating losses, has said that adding more fuel-efficient vessels will help cut costs enough to revive profits amid a capacity glut.

"The ships need to be filled for the cost savings to be achieved," said Guo Huawei, board secretary, in a Sept 19 interview. Operating bigger carriers can be "a double-edged sword", he said, as he declined to give an estimate for earnings or say when the company is likely to return to profit.

Cosco ordered five fuel- efficient container transports that carry as many as 14,500 twenty-foot boxes for delivery between 2017 and 2018, the Beijing- based company said on Sept 17. The ships are slightly smaller than the industry's largest on order by rivals including China Shipping Container Lines Co and AP Moeller-Maersk A/S, which are betting on economies of scale from vessels large enough to carry as many as 19,100 containers.