After a 21-day suspension, COSCO Shipping Lines resumes new booking services from the Far East to the Middle Eastern regions including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and others.

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COSCO SHIPPING Lines Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “COSCO SHIPPING Container”) has resumed new booking services from the Far East to some Middle East countries, including the United Arab Emirates.

On March 25, COSCO SHIPPING Container issued an announcement stating: “Effective immediately, our company resumes new booking services (general containers) from the Far East to the following countries in the Middle East: the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and Iraq.”

However, COSCO SHIPPING Container also reminds customers in the announcement that, given the turmoil in the Middle East region, the arrangements for the above new booking services and the actual transportation may change. “For specific booking arrangements, fees, transportation terms, and other matters, please contact our local agent, your customer service representative, or our company directly.”

“For bookings from the Far East to the Middle East region that our company had already accepted prior to the issuance of this service notice, in any circumstance, the arrangements for the above-mentioned new booking services should not affect or impair our company’s rights related to the transportation arrangements for such already-booked cargo.” COSCO SHIPPING Container further pointed out.

According to information on its website, since March 4, COSCO SHIPPING Container’s new booking services with relevant Middle East countries have been paused for 21 days.

On March 4, COSCO SHIPPING Container issued an announcement stating: “Given that the conflict in the Middle East region continues to escalate, maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has been subject to corresponding restrictions. To ensure, to the maximum extent, the safety of your cargo transportation and the stability of overall shipping operations, based on the latest risk assessment results by COSCO SHIPPING Container, it has been decided that, effective immediately, the new booking services for the relevant routes will be suspended until further notice of the resumption time.”

With respect to the scope of business, the announcement shows: first, suspending all new booking services from the world to the United Arab Emirates (excluding Fujairah and Umm al-Quwain), Qatar, Bahrain, Iraq, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (excluding Jeddah), and Kuwait.

Second, suspending all new booking services from the United Arab Emirates (excluding Fujairah and Umm al-Quwain), Qatar, Bahrain, Iraq, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (excluding Jeddah), and Kuwait to the rest of the world.

At the time, COSCO SHIPPING Container stated in the announcement: “For cargoes currently on board, our company is conducting a comprehensive assessment of the subsequent disposal plan (including studying and determining related matters such as potential alternative discharge ports). All related operations will be executed strictly in accordance with the bills of lading terms and conditions of COSCO SHIPPING Container.”

According to information on its website, COSCO SHIPPING Container is a wholly-owned subsidiary of COSCO SHIPPING (Group) Co., Ltd. (abbreviated as “COSCO SHIPPING Group”), which belongs to the China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company (abbreviated as “COSCO SHIPPING Group”). It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of COSCO SHIPPING Holdings Co., Ltd. (abbreviated as “COSCO SHIPPING Holdings,” 601919.SH, 01919.HK), which is a company listed in both Shanghai and Hong Kong.

COSCO SHIPPING Container was formed by integrating the container shipping business and its service network of “COSCO Container Lines” under the former COSCO Group with that of “CSCL” under the former China Shipping Group. It officially began operations on March 1, 2016, with registered capital of RMB 23.664 billion. The company mainly operates international and domestic sea container transportation services and related businesses, and is a core business segment of COSCO SHIPPING Group.

COSCO SHIPPING Container’s headquarters is located in Hongkou District, Shanghai, and it has 28 departments. In mainland China, it has nine port branch divisions in Dalian, Tianjin, Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Xiamen, South China, Hainan, and Wuhan. It has nine overseas branch divisions in Europe, North America, Southeast Asia, West Asia, South America, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and Africa. As of January 31, 2026, COSCO SHIPPING Container has a total of 273 domestic and overseas corporate entities. The company has 17,100 employees globally, including 5,357 overseas employees.

As of January 31, 2026, COSCO SHIPPING Container operates 453 container vessels, with capacity of 2.45 million TEU (COSCO SHIPPING Container and Orient Overseas Container Line, i.e., the “dual-brand” fleet, jointly operate 591 container vessels with capacity of 3.60 million TEU; the total fleet scale ranks among the industry leaders). The company operates a total of 422 routes, including 275 international routes (including international feeder services), 62 routes along China’s coasts, and 85 routes servicing the Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River feeder routes. Its self-operated fleet has port calls at 656 ports across roughly 146 countries and regions worldwide.

In terms of container shipping and related business, in 2024, COSCO SHIPPING Container’s operating revenue was RMB 156.060 billion. By route revenue, the total for 2024 was RMB 144.050 billion.

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