China's largest ship-management company was unveiled yesterday to challenge overseas counterparts on the world market.

"Our purpose is to catch up with the world's largest V-Ships Company," said Wang Xiangyun, Party secretary of the newly-established China Shipping International Shipmanagement Co Ltd (CSISC).

The company is targeted at managing several hundred overseas ships by 2010, becoming one of the world's shipmanagement giants that can challenge V-Ships by putting some 600 ships under its management.

"It is not an easy job but we are confident," Wang said.

CSISC, launched by China Shipping Company (CSC), is a merger of companies in Guangzhou of Guangdong Province, Shanghai and Dalian of Liaoning Province.

"Setting up such a company is part of CSC's strategy for new-round development in the next five years, turning our company into the world's first-class shipping company," said Li Kelin, president of CSC.

Li, also chairman of CSISC, said the newly-established company now manages 76 ships, including 20 from the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan, Russia and Hong Kong.

Wang said the next step is to manage CSC's own 400 ships to enlarge its business.

He said CSC has worked out a strategic development program for 2010, that requires its tanker company to become one of the world's top 10, its cargo company the top in China and its special vessel company one of the world's top companies.

They are finding difficulties to enlarge its container fleet that will include eight ships carrying 9,600 20-foot or 11,000 20-foot containers each. They will be delivered in 2006, said Hong Wenxing, a spokesman with CSC.

The shipping company which now has about 115 container ships has put five ships built in South Korea into service, each carrying 8,500 20-foot containers.

Agreements have been signed with the Shanghai Hudong Shipyard and the Shanghai Zhonghua Shipyard to order five more ships of the container variety, which will be delivered before 2007, Hong said.

The expansion strategy, Wang said, indicates that China Shipping is in urgent need of quality sailors for the burgeoning fleet.

Shipmanagement is a popular business on the world market but is undeveloped in China due to its stereotyped system that does not allow a free-flow of sailors.

CSISC, with a registered capital of 500 million yuan (US$60 million), is an initial attempt to train skilled sailors in a market method, he said.

At present, CSISC utilizes about 4,000 sailors abroad annually, who, however, "are far from enough to meet the growing demand," he said.

The company plans to increase its staff of sailors by 500 students annually in the next two years by enrolling university graduates and those who gained a high record in the nationwide entrance examination but failed to enter colleges, he said.

(China Daily December 9, 2004)