China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company (abbreviated as COSCO) is one of the largest liner shipping companies serving companies all over the world. It is a government owned company of the People's Republic of China.
According to the company, it owns over 130 vessels (with a capacity of and calls on over 100 ports worldwide.
It ranks sixth largest in number of container ships and ninth largest in aggregate container volume in the world.
The Group contains 6 listed companies and has more than 300 subsidiaries locally and abroad, providing services in freight forwarding, ship building, ship repair, terminal operation, container manufacturing, trade, financing, real estate, and IT. The Group owns and operates a variety of merchant fleet of some 600 vessels with total carrying capacity of up to .
They are the largest dry bulk carrier in China and one of the largest dry bulk shipping operators worldwide. In addition, the Group is the largest liner carrier in China.
On 7 November 2007, shortly after being warned that it was off course, the COSCO Busan hit the western tower of the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge. The impact ripped a hole in the vessel and spilled 58,000 gallons of fuel oil into San Francisco Bay. Damage was extensive. All beaches and islands in the bay were contaminated and closed to the public, hundreds of birds and other wildlife were killed and there was wide-ranging economic impact. The annual crab fishing season was canceled and all sport fishing was halted.
On 11 November, COSCO released a statement that the COSCO Busan was owned and operated by a non-affiliated company.