‘China owns 50% of global fleet, 65% shipbuilding’: Ex-Australia PM Rudd flags monopoly in seas

As the world debates diversifying maritime routes and supply chains, former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd pointed to a stark reality: China controls half of the global commercial fleet and nearly two-thirds of the world’s shipbuilding capacity. In a session at the ‘Sagarmanthan’, a conference organised by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) and the Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways, Rudd laid down three facts that flagged how the world’s seas have been monopolised: China owns 50 per cent of the mobile tonnage of the world’s commercial fleet, owns 65 per cent of the global capacity, and runs 90 ports…