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COSCO Shipping Lines
Operator · HQ China · est. 1961
Chinese state-owned shipping conglomerate and the fourth-largest container line by capacity worldwide.
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COSCO Shipping Lines is a China shipping operator founded in 1961. The company operating a fleet of 470 vessels, across container, bulk, tanker.
- Fleet size
- 470
- Seafarer count
- —
- Vessel types
- container, bulk, tanker
- Website
- lines.coscoshipping.com
Fleet indicators
- Vessels tracked
- 6
- Average age
- 10 years
- Average DWT
- 180,267
- Average GT
- 179,654
- Top vessel types
- container (6)
Aggregated from the vessels tracked in our /ships directory; not a complete fleet census.
Vessels
Owned
- Cosco Shipping Universe · IMO 9595448
- Cosco Shipping Leo · IMO 9786782
- Cosco Shipping Scorpio · IMO 9627193
Managed
- Cosco Shipping Universe · IMO 9595448
- Cosco Shipping Leo · IMO 9786782
- Cosco Shipping Scorpio · IMO 9627193
Recruitment red flags — know before you sign
These are warning signs of fraudulent or non-compliant recruitment. They are not accusations against any specific company.
- ⚠Upfront placement fees demanded from you — illegal under MLC 2006 A1.4(5)(b).
- ⚠Payment requested for "visa processing" or "medical" — these costs must be borne by the employer or agency, not the seafarer (MLC A1.4(5)(b)).
- ⚠Pressure to transfer money to a personal or private bank account.
- ⚠Vague vessel details — no IMO number, no flag state, no agent address given before joining.
- ⚠No SEA (Seafarer Employment Agreement) / contract shown before you join or before travel.
- ⚠No official-domain email — "official" communications come from gmail.com, outlook.com, or similar free providers instead of a company domain.
- ⚠No agency licence number visible or verifiable with the issuing authority.
- ⚠Salary offer that seems "too good to be true" compared to published TCC / ITF industry wage surveys for your rank and vessel type.
These are warning signs, not accusations against any specific company. If you suspect a scam, report to the manning-agency licensing authority of the country claiming to issue the agency's licence.
COSCO Shipping Lines: FAQ
- Does COSCO Shipping Lines hire seafarers?
- COSCO Shipping Lines is listed in our directory as operator with around 470 vessels. Chinese state-owned shipping conglomerate and the fourth-largest container line by capacity worldwide. Beware of any agent who requests payment for a job offer — that is a red flag for a recruitment scam.
- Where is COSCO Shipping Lines based and what flags do they operate?
- COSCO Shipping Lines is headquartered in China, founded 1961. Operating flags are not always published — check the vessel-specific flag on our /ships pages for crewing decisions. The HQ country may differ from the flag of registry (open registries like Liberia, Panama, Marshall Islands are common for non-cabotage operators).
- What vessel types does COSCO Shipping Lines operate?
- container, bulk, tanker. Vessel type drives day-to-day work content, watch schedule, and pay scale — bulk carrier crews see different routines than container-ship or tanker crews. See /vessel-types for the crew-perspective profile of each.
- How do I file a complaint against COSCO Shipping Lines?
- Complaints can be lodged with the flag administration of the vessel, the port-state authority at the next port of call (under MLC 2006), the ITF, and any seafarer welfare organisation (Mission to Seafarers, Stella Maris, Sailors' Society). Keep contract, wage records, and seaman's book ready. For wage theft or abandonment, ITF inspector intervention in port is the fastest practical route.
- Is COSCO Shipping Lines MLC-compliant?
- MLC compliance applies vessel-by-vessel based on flag of registry. Most vessels flying flags that have ratified MLC 2006 are required by law to be MLC-compliant. Verify by checking the vessel's MLC certificate (posted on board) when joining. Operators that own ships under non-MLC-ratified flags may still apply MLC standards voluntarily, but the convention-based complaint route is weaker.
High confidence
Editorial confidence: how we grade. Data sources and methodology: /sources.