China Cosco Shipping, the nation’s largest shipping line, has vowed to ban transporting shark fins.
The new policy was announced in a letter to the Hong Kong branch of the US wildlife conservation group WildAid, according to the local South China Morning Post.
China Cosco Shipping joins a host of the world’s leading containerlines to implement a ban on the controversial cargo.
Earlier this month 880 kg of endangered hammerhead shark fins, protected under Hong Kong law, was found onboard a China Cosco ship.
Hong Kong is believed to be the capital of the world’s shark fin trade, accounting for half of the legal trade, according to the World Wildlife Fund, with 92% of the trade transported by ship.
Maersk was the first to place a total ban on shark fin cargo back in 2010.
