Chinese container shipping service provider, China United Lines (CULines) has recently submitted an application to be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The liner operator, (which has management headquarters based in Shanghai), hasn’t yet published its fund-raising goals or a timeframe for the listing prospectus. They have, however, announced plans to grow their fleet and purchase new warehouses and container yards with the ultimate goal of expanding their logistics services, along with their service network.
A fast-growing container-line company
CULines is now the 22nd most successful liner operator — marking fast growth from October 2020 when they were ranked 95th. CULines was initially founded in 2005 as a non-vessel owning common carrier (or NVOCC) before developing its liner services via intra-Asia routes on chartered vessels. In 2021, as global shipping costs continued to soar, CULines added two second-hand ships to its fleet and deployed them on the transpacific and Asia-Europe lanes. As 2021 came to a close, CULines hired a new CEO, Lars Christiansen (a former senior executive at Hapag-Lloyd), to work alongside existing CEO Raymond Chen. As a business owned by the Chinese state, placing someone of Western origin in a leadership position is an unexpected move that ultimately reflects CULines’ budding global ambitions. Covering themselves with the right insurance is another key consideration for the business. In particular, workers comp insurance can help business owners protect themselves in the event of employee injury on the job. By covering medical bills, lost wages, and medical fees, workers comp insurance provides vital financial protection.
Logistic services and fleet expansion
CULines have currently placed six vessels on order due to being delivered between June this year and December 2023. The ships come in a range of different capacities, the smallest being 1,900 TEU, while the largest comes in at 2,400 TEU. In comparison, CULines’ existing fleet is mainly made up of 33 small and medium-sized ships packing a shipping capacity of 5,300 TEUand under (the total capacity amounting to 83,103 TEU). Ultimately, the fleet is designed to facilitate journeys via both deep-sea and short-sea shipping routes, as well as a wider variety of port choices. Moreover, the fast-growing liner operator is also set to build three container yards and seven warehouses in Los Angeles, Bangkok and Laem Chabang in Thailand, Nansha and Shanghai in China, and Ho Chi Minh City and Hai Phong in Vietnam. Additionally, in addition to the warehouses and container yards, CULines also plan to purchase flat railcars and trailers in LA.
“We plan to further optimize the effective distribution of various vessel sizes in our fleet to further match our short-sea and deep-sea shipping route portfolio and reinforce our competitive strengths”, a company spokesperson said in a statement. “We also plan to further optimize our fleet structure and enter into agreements with vessel chartering companies with varying terms, which, we believe, can reduce our operational risks under changing market conditions.”
