COSTCO is renting its own container ships to import products in a bid to shield itself from supply chain delays and rising costs as the global shipping crisis threatens the holiday shopping season.

In a call with analysts last week, Costco Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti said the company had chartered three ships to import products from Asia to the US and Canada to avoid spending six times the normal price on shipping or containers through a third party.

Each ship could carry between 800 and 1,000 containers at a time, he said, adding that the company also rented “several thousand” containers.

Costco is expected to make about 10 deliveries over the next year using these ships, accounting for about 20 per cent of its imports from Asia.

Costco Wholesale Corporation is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only big-box retail stores.

Home Depot is also renting its own container ships to prevent delays and keep costs down as the global shipping crisis rages on.

Falling demand in the first half of 2020, followed by a surge at the end of the year, has led to delays, port traffic jams, and blockages. A lack of containers and dock workers have also made the situation worse.

At the same time, retailers are being hit by truck and driver shortages, leading to further delays and higher costs.