The recent proposal put forward by the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to impose port taxes on Chinese shipping companies, Chinese-built ships and any operator that has even one Chinese-built vessel in its fleet or a single newbuilding on order from a Chinese shipyard continues to cause controversy.
According to Alphaliner’s latest report, over one third of the current containership fleet was built in Chinese shipyards i.e. 37.8% of the total. The shipping companies that would be most affected by the Ships Proposed Action presented by the USTR are Cosco, with 305 vessels built in China followed by CMA CGM, MSC and Maersk, which have 265, 211 and 197 Chinese-built vessels in their fleets respectively.
Not only that. Over 70% of the current orderbook (consisting of just under 800 ships, with a total capacity of over 9 million TEUs) is with Chinese shipyards.
Seven of the world’s top ten shipbuilding companies are in fact located in China. In first position is Jiangsu NewYangzi Shipbuilding, with 89 new boxships currently under construction followed by New Times Sb, with 70 newbuildings, and Guangzhou Wenchong, with 53 new vessels on order.
The first non-Chinese shipbuilding companies are in fifth and sixth position i.e. the South Korean shipyards of Hyundai Sambo (42 newbuildings) and Hyundai Ulsa (39 newbuildings).
Translation by Giles Foster
