On 11 November 2026, COSCO SHIPPING Development Co., Ltd. (HK: 02866) announced it had signed contracts with China State Shipbuilding Group to buy sixteen 307,000 DWT-class very large crude carriers (VLCCs) for about RMB13.43 billion (about $2 billion), with delivery expected between October 2029 and December 2030. The vessels are methanol and LNG dual-fuel-ready. The company also agreed to lease the 16 ships to Pan Cosmos under 20-year bareboat charters. Separately, COSCO Shipping Energy Transportation ordered 10 VLCCs for RMB9.48bn and lined up 14 more via bareboat charters worth up to RMB17.4bn.
The orders are part of a broader COSCO group fleet expansion and renewal, with a focus on dual-fuel-ready tonnage to meet future emissions rules and secure long-term charter income. The deals also support Chinese shipyards and leasing companies.
COSCO SHIPPING Development signed contracts for sixteen 307,000 DWT-class VLCCs at about RMB13.43 billion (~$2 billion) and agreed to lease them to Pan Cosmos for 20 years. No factual claim to check; it is an opinion/rant.
BChina's shipping giant just placed a two billion dollar bet on supertankers.
BSixteen of them. The biggest crude carriers you can build.
BCOSCO Shipping Development signed the order this week. Sixteen VLCCs, about two billion dollars.
BAnd here's the part that matters: they already have a customer. Twenty-year leases to Pan Cosmos.
BSo this isn't speculative. They're building because someone's committed to paying for them for two decades.
BThat's how you finance a fleet. Lock in the income, then build the ships.
BThe ships are dual-fuel ready. Methanol and LNG. That's the future-proofing.
BAnd it's not just this order. COSCO's energy arm ordered ten more and lined up fourteen others.
BTradeWinds is calling it a newbuilding spree. Splash247 says a massive supertanker fleet push.
BHere's my read: China's locking in its energy supply chain. These tankers will move crude for decades.
BAnd they're building them at Chinese shipyards. So the money stays home.
BExactly. It's industrial policy wrapped in a shipping deal.
BMeanwhile, a Bluesky post making the rounds says humans were wrecking the Middle East's environment before we could even write.
BOvergrazing and irrigation salinification. That's a very online way to say we've been bad at land management.
BThe account also says Europe lost almost all its forest before the first proper textile factory.
BI can't verify those specific claims, but the broad point is fair: environmental damage isn't new.
BIt's a useful counter to the idea that everything was pristine until the industrial revolution.
BRight. Ancient civilizations did plenty of damage with goats and bad irrigation.
BBut the scale feels different now. Modern tanker fleets are a very different beast from anything ancient traders had.
BFair. The tools changed. The appetite didn't.
BDifferent world entirely: a Bluesky post about Tolkien that's actually a decent metaphor for geopolitics.
BThe man invented Middle Earth, and when asked about the East, he basically said 'not my circus, not my monkeys.'
BThe poster's point: even the creator doesn't know everything about his own world.
BWhich is how I feel about half the briefings I read. The map says 'here be dragons' and the analyst says 'we don't know.'
BIt's honest, at least. Better than pretending you have the whole picture.
BAnd it's a reminder that every region has its own history we barely understand.
BSpeaking of regions we barely understand: a Bluesky post from Roger Sollenberger is making accusations about someone named Cory.
BHe says Cory is an arms dealer who lost all his money and secretly travels to Syria.
BNone of that is verified. It's a claim, and a serious one.
BAnd it's exactly the kind of thing that spreads fast and sticks, even without evidence.
BThe post is vague. No full name, no dates, no documents. Just accusations.
BWhich is why we're not repeating them as fact. If there's something real here, show the receipts.
BThat's the standard. And it's a good place to leave it.