China’s state-owned shipping companies continue to show signs of having survived their protracted financial crisis — at least the more urgent phases of it — and of coming to life again. Although the sector is struggling with loss-making markets just like everybody else, it is no longer in paralysis.
At Cosco, an overdue fleet renewal is well under way after a long spell in which newbuilding contracts were unthinkable — thanks in part to a government subsidy initiative to promote domestic scrapping and replacement.
