China Shipping, Sinopec to form LNG JV

China Shipping Group, one of the country's largest shipping groups, will form a joint venture with Sinopec Group to ship liquefied natural gas (LNG) in a bid to cope with the growing demand for clean energy, according to sources.



The setup of the LNG shipping joint venture is in line with China's latest move to launch a national energy bureau to promote clean energy nationwide.



The Shanghai-based group is the parent of China Shipping Container Lines Co and China Shipping Development Co.



The new venture, if successful, will get support from task forces from both companies and will be injected into China Shipping Development, said Li Shaode, chairman of China Shipping Group.



Last month, China Shipping Group has signed a cooperative agreement with China National Coal Group Corp on coal transportation and the establishment of coal transfer centers.



Currently, the group has five specialized shipping fleets of oil tankers, tramps, passenger ships, container vessels and special cargo ships, which comprise over 440 vessels with an aggregated deadweight of 15 million tones and an annual traffic volume of over 270 million tones.