China Ocean Shipping Company (Cosco) has revealed its plans to hit a 2 million TEUs operational capacity mark by the end of 2018, according to China Daily.

The company has increased its aim in an effort to seize a larger slice of the cake, known as the East-West and South-North routes.

Namely, Cosco is looking to expand beyond the usual container shipping services on Asia-Africa and China-Southeast lines, and focus on the major shipping lines, in particular, Asia-Europe and Asia-America.

Ranking fourth in the world of container shipping operators, after the Danish Maersk Line, Swiss Mediterranean Shipping Co SA, and French CMA CGM SA, Cosco intends to compete with its three European rivals for more volume.

China Daily quoted the company’s general manager, Wan Min, as saying that the share of Chinese companies in major shipping lines is relatively small, adding that the new goal would boost Cosco’s capacity.

The company currently owns 1.58 million TEUs of the world containership capacity.

From: World Maritime News