China’s state-controlled shipowners Guangdong Yudean Co and Fujian Shipping Group (Fusco) have said their latest charter deal is an example of Communism in action.

The claim came as the companies announced Yudean’s one-year charter of a veteran panamax from Fusco, the 69,300-dwt Dong Fang Sheng (built 1990), which they described as a first step in a broader “strategic co-operation framework” that they signed in April.