China’s COSCO Shipping Corporation has announced that it will ban all shark fin shipments, joining a growing number of transport and logistics companies standing up against a brutal trade that kills millions of sharks annually.
In a letter released, Wan Min, Director and President of COSCO Shipping, announced company’s decision to ‘implement the “No Shark Fin” carriage polices’. COSSCO will make sure that no shark fin-related products are carried by its vessels through stricter monitoring and regulation.
“We also pledge to implement the ‘No Shark Fin’ carriage policies as other global container lines.”
COSCO Shipping’s commitment follows concerns raised by wildlife conservation groups after Hong Kong Customs officials seized nearly 1 ton of fins from endangered hammerhead sharks, found inside a COSCO shipping container on board a COSCO vessel earlier this month.
“By acting responsibly and with great stewardship of our oceans, COSCO Shipping has joined the ranks of all the other major global container shipping lines by banning shark fin from their vessels with immediate effect,” said Alex Hofford, Wildlife Campaigner for WildAid Hong Kong.
Environmental group WildAid says that the commitments of 17 container shipping lines and 34 airlines have intensified scrutiny of American multinational courier FedEx, which has yet to commit to a “No Shark Fin” carriage policy despite intense pressure. UPS, FedEx’s chief industry rival, banned shark fin shipments nearly a year ago.