China throws its shipbuilders a $4.5B lifeline

Three state-owned Chinese shipping companies have ordered 50 supertankers from Chinese yards, according to a report in the 21st Century Business Herald. The effort to save shipyard jobs in the face of the worst shipping slump in a quarter of a century and to build up China's merchant fleet risks further flooding shipping markets awash with surplus capacity. The tanker orders also suggest that China is expecting to import greatly increased volumes of oil and natural gas by sea in coming years.