Eric Watkins
Senior Correspondent
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 30 -- China Shipping Group Co. (CSGC) has signed a contract with China State Shipbuilding Corp. (CSSC) for construction of four very large crude carriers (VLCCs).
Li Shaode, CSGC general manager, said addition of the 308,000-ton vessels and several others under construction will bring the firm's fleet to 12 VLCCs, with a carrying capacity of 8 million tonnes, by 2010.
CSGC has three VLCCs now and five under construction to be delivered during 2009-10.
China expects the expanded fleet to carry about half of its imported crude oil and products after 2010. At present, Chinese tankers perform less than 20% of the country's transportation work.
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