Pao's quietly
4 21/2
HONG KONG STANDARD
5.1173
heading for the
top of the list
WHEN Hongkong gets its own shipping registry it will rank as one of the largest
merchant fleets in the world. And the man behind the move for independence will own one of the largest individual fleets in the world.
While shipping magnate. like Aristotle Onassis hog he limelight the title-known multi- millionaire Y.K. Pao quietly goes about accumulating more and more ships.
TANKERS
Today he owns more than 80 ships, including 250.000-ton super tankers.
But the world fuel crisis which is hampering the activities of other shipping lines does not bother him. He charters out his ships on straight "deadweight" basis and leaves the headaches of finding sufficient Tuel to the people
NO OIL
WORRIES
FOR
THIS
TYCOON
who charter them.
This is why at a time when other shipping companies are thinking of cutbacks, and stopping orders for new ships Mr Pao has just completed negotiations with a Japanese firm to build more ships. When the contract is finished in 1975 he will be the owner of more than 127 freighters and tankers, valued at more than $5,000 million.
Within two years Mr Pao will not only be the largest independent owner in the world with a company that will have 13 million tons deadweight of shipping, but he will also own more tonnage than most oil companies.
It is in a great measure duc to his lobbying that Hongkong is to get its own shipping register. He is confident that the plan will go through without a hitch.
OBSTACLES
"I do not think there are any political obstacles in Britain that will delay
the plan," he said.
Although he spends most of his time in Japan, America or Britain, Mr Pao stands by Hongkong and 15 an ardent supporter of local culture activities. He also offers training to young men want to go to sea.
During the
who
opening
ceremony recently of health centre which he donated to the Hongkong University, Mr Pao secretly told his friends: " wish I had the opportunity to study here."
*
THE START
As it is he confines his reading to books, magazines and technical papers on ships and shipping.
**This is especially important for men like me. We have to know about the type of engines, electricity and propellors etc., that are used on the ships,” he said.
Mr Pao, a native of Ningpo, a seaport near Shanghai, started life as the son of a wealthy merchant who owned a paper mill.
Later he went to Shanghai and became a top executive in the Municipal Bank.
MR PAO..
no worries
a wish to study
Then in the late 40s, the family paper mill was seized, The Pao Tamily fled to Hongkong. They had managed to bring a sizable amount of money with them to enable them to start a new business in the Colony.
In 1955 that venture .collapsed and Mr Pao started looking for something new. His father wanted to start up in real estate, but Mr Pao, with memories of the seizure of the paper mill, thought there was too much risk attached.
Putting up US$770,000 he bought the 8,200-ton coal-burning freighter Golden Alpha, and laid the foundation for his shipping empire.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.