C. Y. Tung (董浩雲)

C. Y. Tung was the founder of the shipping company Orient Overseas (International) Limited. He was regarded as one of the world’s most influential shipping magnates for the changes he brought to the shipping industry.

He began his business in Shanghai, migrating to Hong Kong after the Chinese Civil War. He started his fleet in 1955-1956 by buying two tankers, the Pacific Pride and the Pacific Triumph. At the same time, Tung had contracts for new vessels with shipping companies worldwide. He formed a large fleet, comprising tankers, bulk carriers and gas carriers.

In 1956, the Oriental Star was launched in France. It was the largest cargo ship in Chinese history, with a gross tonnage of 13,300. In 1959, the Oriental Giant, one of the world’s ten largest tonnage vessels, was completed and launched in Japan.^[10] Since 1968, ten very large crude carriers (VLCC) with a total gross tonnage of 2.5 million were added to Tung’s fleet.^[11] An ultra-large crude carrier (ULCC) joined Tung’s fleet in the 1970s.

Y. K. Pao (包玉剛)

Sir Y. K. Pao was the founder of the shipping company World-Wide Shipping Group. Although devoting himself to the banking industry initially, he shifted his attention to the shipping industry in 1954, forming the World-Wide Steamship Co. Ltd. in July 1955.^[12] To begin with, he used 160,000 pounds sterling to buy his first ship from a British company, and renamed it the Golden Alpha. It was a second-hand coal-burning steamer.^[13] Surprisingly, he chartered the ship to a Japanese shipping company. That was regarded as an unwise move by his fellow shipowners. However, from Pao’s point of view, it was a relatively risk-free way of enhancing his shipping and navigational knowledge.^[14]

By applying what he had learnt from the banking industry, Pao increased his fleet by seven cargo vessels a year later.^[15] Pao focused mainly on ships built in Japanese shipyards. His business philosophy was to regard ships as commodities for making profits. He chartered his ships to the Japanese and also signed contracts with them to build new ships. In the early 1960s, he started establishing a fleet of ships constructed in his name. Eleven new vessels were constructed and launched in Japanese shipyards, including the first new ship he commissioned in his own name, the 16,372 dwt (deadweight tonnage) Eastern Sakura^[16]. This ship was for transporting timber from Canada to Japan.^[17] Eight other new vessels joined his fleet in the late 1960s. By 1969, Pao was the leading shipowner in Hong Kong, possessing 80 vessels.^[18]

T. Y. Chao (趙從衍)

Together with Robert Chen (程餘齋), the head of Shing Cheng Shipping Co., T. Y. Chao established Wah Kwong (Hong Kong) Ltd. in September 1952. Chao started the business by buying a few old vessels for sailing to India and Indonesia.^[19]

Like his fellow shipowners, Chao started off by co-operating with Japanese ship-building companies. In 1966, the New Venture, a newly built 16,000-ton log bulk carrier, was launched. The company further developed its fleet by replacing old vessels with new ones. In the late 1960s, Chao bought a Panamax bulk carrier that could carry 60,000 tonnes of goods. He kept on working with Japanese companies, and eventually more than 100 vessels were constructed for the company and chartered to Japanese companies on a long-term basis.^[20]

C. S. Koo (顧宗瑞)

C. S. Koo, C. Y. Tung’s father-in-law, established Tai Chong Hsiang in the 1910s in Shanghai. His first paddle steamer was built in the 1920s.^[21] During this period, he bought a ship called the Ramona with US$500,000 and operated a logistics business along the Chinese coast.^[22] He became the earliest independent shipowner in the history of Chinese navigation.^[23] During the Second World War the company had a fleet of ten vessels of 9,500 dwt in total. Its vessels plied two routes: one covering Guangzhou and Fuzhou, and the other covering Qingdao and Tianjin.^[24]

In 1949, the company abandoned all its vessels and moved to Hong Kong to begin anew. The Ramona was taken by the Japanese Government, but was soon returned to Koo after Tung’s negotiation with the United States government. Although Koo managed to get back the Ramona, he had to wait for it to be auctioned. Finally, Koo bought it back and renamed it the Alice.^[25] In the 1950s, Koo bought the Valles, a 5,000-dwt second-hand steamship, with finances from the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank.^[26]

Frank Tsao (曹文錦)

Frank Tsao moved to Hong Kong with his valuables and capital of US$100,000 in the late 1940s. Upon his arrival, he continued to be involved in the import and export business. But each time after receiving an order, he had to hire a vessel to transport the products, a mode of operation that proved to be both expensive and inconvenient. Therefore, he decided to buy his first ship, the Ebanol, in 1949. It was built in Singapore and could carry 1,200 tonnes of goods.^[27] After purchasing the ship, Tsao founded the Great Southern Steamship Company Limited.

Seizing the opportunity of the Korean War, his shipping company kept on expanding. In the 1950s, he possessed eight old ships and had constant contacts with Japanese ship-building companies. He commissioned Hitachi Building Co. to construct a new vessel on the condition that he was to pay a deposit of 20% of the construction fee and to charter the vessel on a long-term basis to Japanese clients. The new 12,000-dwt cargo ship, the Dona Nancy, was completed in 1963.^[28] Following the Dona Nancy, there was the Dona Viviana, built at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries shipyard. The Dona Viviana was the largest log carrier in the world at the time, with a dwt of 15,000 tonnes.^[29] In 1966, he dissolved the Great Southern Steamship Company Limited and established the International Maritime Carriers Limited.