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China begins building out its supertanker fleet |
| Home | (IHT) - SHANGHAI: China has begun an ambitious effort to build a fleet of more than 90 supertankers to improve its control over oil imports, vital to sustaining a booming economy, shipping industry experts say. Government strategic planners in Beijing have set a target that half of the oil imports should be carried on Chinese-owned tankers. No deadline has been set to meet this goal, but Chinese shipping companies are expected to order up to 65 supertankers worth an estimated $7.1 billion by 2012, according to transport analysts. These ships, in addition to the country's existing fleet of 25 supertankers, would have the capacity to deliver about half of projected imports by about 2015. |