COSCO Shipping Development

COSCO Shipping Development Co., Ltd.

Company type	Public
Industry	Financial services, container leasing
Predecessor	China Shipping Container Lines (CSCL)
Founded	1997
Fate	Rebranded after merger of COSCO and China Shipping; withdrew from container shipping activities
Successor	COSCO Container Lines (for container shipping assets)
Headquarters	Shanghai , China
Area served	Global
Key people	Li Shaode (leader after Li Kelin)
Products	Container and vessel leasing, container production, marine insurance brokerage, risk management services
Owner	State-owned (part of COSCO SHIPPING Group)
Parent	COSCO SHIPPING Group

COSCO Shipping Development Co., Ltd., presented as COSCO SHIPPING Development, is a financial services enterprise headquartered in Shanghai, China. Previously operating under the name China Shipping Container Lines (CSCL), it was once ranked among the globe's largest container liner operators. After the 2016 merger between COSCO and China Shipping, the firm withdrew from container shipping activities and adopted the name COSCO SHIPPING Development. In 2012, as CSCL, it was positioned 1503rd on the Forbes Global 2000 list.

History

Established in 1997 as a subsidiary of the state-owned China Shipping Group, CSCL experienced rapid growth following China's entry into the WTO in 2001, facilitating the expansion of Chinese trade. From 2000 to 2006, CSCL's share of the global TEU market surged by 126%, making it the second fastest-growing container shipping company worldwide. By 2004, it had reached tenth place globally in TEU capacity and climbed to sixth by 2007. In 2005, American Shipper honored it as the “World’s Most Profitable Container Liner Company.” The company also received environmental accolades from the Port of Long Beach in both 2007 and 2008 and was awarded 'Best Annual Carrier' by Michaels Stores in 2009.

CSCL managed a comprehensive network that included proprietary trucking services, container yards, and access to numerous Chinese seaports and riverports. Its intermodal operations within the United States involved partnerships with trucking companies and all principal US railroads. Notably, in 2001, it initiated a twice-weekly on-dock double-stack train service connecting the Port of Los Angeles to Chicago via BNSF Railway.

The company went public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2004 with an issuance of 2.42 billion shares and conducted a secondary public offering on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 2007. Leadership under Captain Li Kelin and his successor Li Shaode—both seasoned industry professionals—was instrumental in its initial achievements. CSCL played a significant role in handling China's export and import cargoes during its emergence as a global manufacturing hub.

In July 2013, CSCL halted its shipping operations to Iran in response to US sanctions. The following year, CSCL allied with CMA CGM and United Arab Shipping to create the Ocean Three Alliance for vessel space sharing. December 2014 saw the launch of the CSCL Globe, which at that time was the largest container ship worldwide with a capacity of 19,100 TEUs. By May 2014, CSCL operated a fleet comprising 148 container ships totaling 656,000 TEUs across 40 global shipping routes.

After China Shipping Group merged with COSCO Group in February 2016 to establish COSCO SHIPPING Group, CSCL transferred its container shipping assets to COSCO Container Lines. Shareholders also approved acquiring Florens Container Lease (COSCO's leasing subsidiary), Dong Fang International Investment (China Shipping's leasing division), and Oriental Fleet International Ltd., another ship leasing entity. Consequently, CSCL was rebranded as COSCO SHIPPING Development and repositioned as a holding company overseeing COSCO SHIPPING's container and vessel leasing operations.

Services

The firm provides a range of offerings including container and vessel leasing, production of containers, brokerage services for marine insurance, and risk management solutions tailored for maritime shipping enterprises.

COSCO SHIPPING Development is the proprietor of Florens Asset Management, a prominent global lessor specializing in intermodal shipping containers. By March 2020, Florens oversaw a container fleet totaling 3.65 million TEUs, leasing various types such as dry containers, refrigerated units, open-top containers, and flat racks under both short-term and long-term agreements. Established in 1987, Florens was originally a fully owned subsidiary of COSCO Group and has since incorporated the container assets from Dong Fang International Asset Management, which was formerly under China Shipping Group's ownership.

Fleet

Container ship categories operated by China Shipping Container Lines

Ship category	Year built	Capacity (TEU)	Number of vessels	Remarks
Star-class	2011-2012	14,074	8	Managed by COSCO SHIPPING Lines
Globe class	2014-2015	18,982	5	Managed by COSCO SHIPPING Lines
Peony-class	2018-2019	13,800	8	Managed by COSCO SHIPPING Lines
Universe-class	2018-2019	21,237	6	Managed by COSCO SHIPPING Lines

CSCL Jupiter

On August 14, 2017, the container vessel CSCL Jupiter ran aground near Bath in the Netherlands shortly after leaving Antwerp on its way to Hamburg. This event caused a complete stoppage of shipping operations at the port. Following a successful refloating process, the ship underwent inspection in Antwerp.