Reports in China claim executives from two Cosco companies and three China Shipping wings are sitting on a committee that is reviewing a deal.
According to the South China Morning Post the companies were told to come up with a merger plan yesterday eveing.
Subsequent statements to the Shanghai Stock Exchange have suggested that China Cosco along with China Shipping Development and China Shipping Container Lines are planning material matters, the Post added.
Reports by the ship.sh website suggest that if all goes to plan the merger could be done by 2017.
It suggests Cosco boss Ma Zehua is not involved as he is approaching retirement.
Cosco is the world’s second largest shipowner behind AP Moller-Maersk of Denmark, according to Clarksons Research Services. China Shipping is fifth, after NYK and MOL of Japan.
Talk of Cosco and China Shipping merging has surfaced in the market several times. The companies already have a cooperation agreement in place.
