China Shipping to expand VLCC fleet

China Shipping Group is considering buying six to eight VLCCs within the next two years. The state-run company expects to take delivery of the first of its 300,000dwt tankers in November, the newspaper reported.

According to China Shipping?s president, Sun Zhitang, the company plans to order a further 15 VLCCs before 2010 at a combined cost of $2.4billion. The company already operates 82 tankers with a total deadweight of 2.52 million dwt.