In a bid to take on more of the management side to its imminent merger plans, which includes financing, ship-leasing and tanker operations, China Shipping Container Lines (CSCL) has decided to leave the container shipping business and pass on the container shipping operations to Cosco, according to The Loadstar.
The two Chinese companies said in a joint-statement: “CSCL will achieve business transformation by leasing ships and container boxes; acquiring the leasing business held by Cosco and China Shipping; and injecting other ship financing business and assets.
“Cosco will rent CSCL’s assets, including ships and container boxes, and divest the bulk shipping business. Cosco will buy the port assets of China Shipping and CSCL in order to integrate container shipping and port businesses.
“For our investors, the integration of quality resources and capture of the synergies can bring better investment return; for our customers, expanded shipping capacity and widened scope of the business will optimise the route network, and improve the fleet structure, thus enhance our ability to deliver higher quality customer services and meet more rigorous service standards; for our suppliers, it provides a better platform with even more cooperation opportunities.”
The two shipping companies currently have a combined fleet of 331 vessels, and will become the fourth largest container line after Maersk, MSC and CMA CGM when they join together.
CSCL is currently a part of the Ocean Three 'O3' and Cosco is a member of the CKYH alliance and it is still uncertain as to how the alliances will be affected by the proposed merger.
