China Navigation Company

"CNCo" redirects here. For the Latin boy band, see CNCO.

The China Navigation Company Limited

Trade name

| Swire Shipping
Swire Bulk
Company type| Liner, dry bulk shipping, project cargo shipping, landside logistics, and integrated logistics
Industry| Shipping
Founded| 1872
Founder| John Samuel Swire
Headquarters|

Singapore

Key people

| Sam Swire (chairman)

Swire Shipping: Jeremy Sutton (CEO)

Swire Bulk: Peter Norborg (CEO)
Parent| Swire Group
Website| www.swirecnco.com
www.swireshipping.com
www.swirebulk.com
www.swireprojects.com

The China Navigation Company Limited (CNCo) is a London-based holding company of merchant shipping companies Swire Shipping Pte Ltd and Swire Bulk Pte Ltd, both of which are headquartered in Singapore.[1][2][3]

The Swire flag is also the house flag of CNCo.

CNCo is part of the Swire group and wholly owned by John Swire & Sons Limited. Swire Shipping was formerly known as the China Navigation Company until October 2021, when it was renamed Swire Shipping.[4]

## History

[edit]

### 1872–1945: Yangtze River origins

[edit]

Scotts of Greenock, Scotland built the coastal steamship SS Shenking for CNCo in 1931 Taikoo Dockyard built SS Shuntien in Hong Kong in 1934. She was SS Shengking's sister ship.

Founded in London in 1872 by John Samuel Swire, CNCo was established with the intent of providing paddle steamer services on the Yangtze River.[5][6][7] The company was started with an initial investment of £360,000 provided primarily by John Samuel Swire and William Hudson Swire, along with other shareholders, including the father of James Henry Scott of Scotts' Shipbuilding.[8][9][10]

John Swire and Sons (JS&S) initially commissioned the construction of three ships for trade on the Lower Yangtze in 1873. That same year, they also purchased the Union Steam Navigation Company, which included CNCo's first two ships, Tunsin and Glengyle, along with property leases in Shanghai and other river ports.[6] Later in 1873 and in 1874, the three originally ordered paddle streamers arrived from A & J Inglis – Pekin, Shanghai, and Ichang. James Henry Scott joined as a partner in 1874, and together with JS&S, they acquired two steamers, named Fuchow and Swatow, from John Scott IV, who also invested in these vessels. The two vessels laid the foundation for the formation of a new company, the Coast Boats Ownery (CBO), which was set up to manage China coastal trade.[9]

By the mid-1870s, CNCo expanded its operations to the Canton River trade and the Shanghai-Ningbo and Shanghai-Tianjin routes.[11] The company faced intense competition, rate wars, and entered into pool agreements with rival firms, reflecting the volatile nature of the Chinese shipping industry in the late 19th century.[11]

By 1883, the five steamships managed by CNCo's managing firm, Butterfield & Swire, and which were primarily serving South China routes, were also integrated into CNCo's own fleet. In the same year, CBO merged with CNCo, and operated as the Coastal Steamers section of CNCo with an expanded fleet.[8][12]

CNCo's fleet grew to 29 ships by 1894, serving an extensive network of ports across Asia and other regions.[6] The company faced numerous challenges in the 20th century, including political turbulence and piracy in the Far East, but continued operations through both World Wars.[6] Initially focusing on the Yangtze River trade, the company expanded its operations to include coastal and regional routes by the late 19th century.[6]

In 1939, CNCo first became involved in the Papua New Guinea trade, which ceased with the start of the war.[13]

In 1940, the CNCo fleet was requisitioned by the British Government during the World War II, while CNCo maintained its operations from an office in Bombay.[6] In 1945, it returned to Shanghai and Hong Kong, and operations gradually resumed.[6] CNCo's business on the North China Coast (from Ningpo north) and the Yangtze River was undertaken from Shanghai, while the South Coast, Canton trade and all Australian, South East Asian, and Philippines routes were handled out of Hong Kong. The growth of CNCo eventually led to shipping becoming the predominant focus for Butterfield & Swire.[14]

### 1945–present: Post World War II

[edit]

CNCo re-entered the trade in the 1950s and began new trading routes in the region, from Australia to Papua New Guinea and the Pacific Islands.[13]

Post-World War II, the company innovated in the Pacific trade routes, notably introducing "unitisation" in cargo handling during the 1960s, and later transitioning to full containerisation.[6] The company also diversified into passenger cruising and the dry bulk carrier market, and in the 1980s, ventured into the Very Large Crude Carrier market.[6] The 1990s saw a consolidation of management operations in Sydney, while its New Zealand operations were hinged on its investments in Tasman Asia and Tasman Orient Line.[6]

In 2009, CNCo relocated its headquarters to Singapore, establishing The China Navigation Company Pte Limited as a subsidiary of the UK-registered parent company.[15] Its global liner operations, and all existing ship-owning and operating activities, are being managed out of the new office in Singapore. The office opening ceremony in 2010 was attended by Lim Hwee Hua, then Minister in the Prime Minister's Office and Second Minister for Finance and Transport.[16]

In 2012, CNCo established Swire Bulk to manage its dry bulk shipping activities, and in 2021, separated it to focus on liner shipping and fleet management.[17]

In 2014, CNCo acquired New Zealand-based Pacifica Shipping.[18][19]

In 2020, CNCo launched Swire Projects to provide specialised project cargo shipping services.[20]

In 2021, CNCo rebranded as Swire Shipping.[4] A year later, Swire Shipping acquired US-based Westwood Shipping Lines.[21][22]

## Current fleet list

[edit]

### Swire Shipping

[edit]

MIHOS

* Kokopo Chief[23]

PACIFIC CLASS

* Apia Chief[23]
* Kiribati Chief[23]
* Majuro Chief[23]
* Noumea Chief[23]
* Port Vila Chief[23]
* Samoa Chief[23]
* Tonga Chief[23]
* Vanuatu Chief[23]

HERITAGE CLASS

* Coral Chief[23]
* Highland Chief[23]
* New Guinea Chief[23]
* Papuan Chief[23]

PNG CLASS

* Carpenters Vega[23]
* Changsha[23]
* Moresby Chief[23]
* Rabaul Chief[23]

FIJI CLASS

* Honiara Chief[23]
* Lautoka Chief[23]
* Nadi Chief[23]
* Suva Chief[23]

WESTWOOD

* Westwood Columbia[23]
* Westwood Olympia[23]
* Westwood Rainier[23]
* Westwood Victoria[23]

WEIHAI1300

* Takutai Chief[23]

CC9K

* Aotearoa Chief[23]

CV1700

* Moana Chief[23]

### Swire Bulk

[edit]

* Hanyang[24]
* Hoihow[24]
* Hunan[24]
* Hupeh[24]
* Kaifong[24]
* Kansu[24]
* Kaying[24]
* Kian[24]
* Kiating[24]
* Kinling[24]
* Liangchow[24]
* Luenho[24]
* Pakhoi[24]
* Pekin[24]
* Powan[24]
* Poyang[24]
* Tatung[24]
* Tientsin[24]
* Tunsin[24]

## Notable former vessels

[edit]

A. & J. Inglis of Glasgow built the sidewheel river steamship PS Hankow for the China Navigation Co in 1874 John Swire's subsidiary Taikoo Dockyard in Hong Kong built SS Whang Pu for China Navigation Co in 1920 Anshun lying on her side in Milne Bay, New Guinea 1942. Taikoo Dockyard built the riverboat MV Wulin for the China Navigation Co in 1935

* SS Anhui (3,494 GRT built 1925 was one of only three large vessels, the others being Coast Farmer and Dona Nati, to actually deliver supplies early in the Pacific war to the Philippines from Australia arriving in Cebu City on 20 March 1942. Anhui later operated under U.S. Army control as part of the Southwest Pacific Area permanent local fleet as X-6 from 4 March 1942—September or December 1945.)[25][26][27]
* MV Anshun
* MS Changsha
* SS Hanyang (2,876 GRT built 1940 was involved in early Pacific war efforts to supply the Philippines and Netherlands East Indies from Australia and later operated under U.S. Army control as part of the Southwest Pacific Area permanent local fleet as X-8 from 24 March 1942—August 1945.)[28][29]
* MV Eredine (sold)
* MV Erradale
* SS Shengking
* SS Shuntien (sunk by enemy action)
* MV Soochow (also known as Maersk Asia Decimo)
* MS Taiyuan
* SS Wang Phu
* SS Wu Chang
* MV Wulin
* SS Yochow (2,810 GRT built 1938 was involved in early Pacific war efforts to supply the Philippines and Netherlands East Indies from Australia and later operated under U.S. Army control as part of the Southwest Pacific Area permanent local fleet as X-7 from 11 April 1942—December 1945.)[30][31]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "China Navigation charts steady course". South China Morning Post. 11 August 2015.
2. ^ "CHINA NAVIGATION COMPANY LIMITED(THE) overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk.
3. ^ "Our Journey". Swire Bulk. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
4. ^ a b "China Navigation rebrands as Swire Shipping". 18 October 2021.
5. ^ Marriner, S; Hyde, F (1967). 'The Senior' John Samuel Swire 1825–1898. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "CHINA NAVIGATION COMPANY - John Swire & Sons Ltd Archive - Archives Hub".
7. ^ Jones, Geoffrey (17 April 2000). "Merchants to multinationals : British trading companies in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries". Oxford [UK] ; New York : Oxford University Press - via Internet Archive.
8. ^ a b "Steamship Enterprise In Nineteenth-Century China | Journal of Asian Studies | Duke University Press".
9. ^ a b Johnman, Lewis; Murphy, Hugh (18 October 2017). Scott Lithgow: Dejá Vu All Over Again! The Rise and Fall of a Shipbuilding Company. Liverpool University Press. ISBN 978-1-78694-905-9.
10. ^ Cowan, Charles Donald (15 April 1964). "The economic development of China and Japan; studies in economic history and political economy". London, Allen & Unwin.
11. ^ a b "A guide to the papers of John Swire and Sons Ltd". digital.soas.ac.uk.
12. ^ Johnman, Lewis; Murphy, Hugh (18 October 2017). Scott Lithgow: Dejá Vu All Over Again! The Rise and Fall of a Shipbuilding Company. Liverpool University Press. ISBN 978-1-78694-905-9 - via Google Books.
13. ^ a b "New Guinea Australia Line - CHINA NAVIGATION COMPANY - John Swire & Sons Ltd Archive - Archives Hub".
14. ^ Hyde, Francis Edwin (17 April 1957). "Blue funnel : a history of Alfred Holt and Company of Liverpool from 1865 to 1914, by Francis E. Hyde ; with the assistance of J.R. Harris. --". Liverpool : Liverpool University Press - via Internet Archive.
15. ^ https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/ea5125cd-1825-31be-b41a-142a903c5ede?component=e8bf8d21-b4a5-3546-ac96-9bc57cfc7319 [bare URL]
16. ^ "SPEECH Report". www.nas.gov.sg.
17. ^ "Swire bulk launches new liner service". Project Cargo Journal. 4 July 2022.
18. ^ Hartley, Simon (25 January 2014). "Pacifica sale 'nearly there'". Otago Daily Times Online News.
19. ^ "Stuff". www.stuff.co.nz.
20. ^ "SwireProjects | Swire Projects - Marine solutions tailored to the project industry". SwireProjects.
21. ^ Cockrell, Debbie (1 July 2022). "Puyallup-based shipping line with historic ties to Weyerhaeuser gains new ownership". The News Tribune.
22. ^ "Swire Shipping completes Westwood Shipping Lines acquisition". Seatrade Maritime. 30 June 2022.
23. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab "Swire Fleet". Swire Shipping | Specialist Logistics Solutions. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
24. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s "Fleet". Swire Bulk. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
25. ^ Lloyds (1942–1943). "Lloyd's Register 1942—43, Anhui" (PDF). Lloyd's Register (through PlimsollShipData). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 April 2014. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
26. ^ Morton, Lewis (1993). The War in the Pacific: The Fall Of The Philippines. United States Army In World War II. Washington, D.C.: Center Of Military History, United States Army. p. 395\. LCCN 53063678. Archived from the original on 24 October 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
27. ^ Masterson 1949, pp. 27, 320, 324, 326, 383, 338, Appendix 30 p. 1.
28. ^ Lloyds (1942–1943). "Lloyd's Register 1942—43, Hanyang" (PDF). Lloyd's Register (through PlimsollShipData). Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 April 2014. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
29. ^ Masterson 1949, pp. 27, 320, 324, 326, 332, 338, Appendix 30 p. 3.
30. ^ Lloyds (1942–1943). "Lloyd's Register 1942—43, Yochow" (PDF). Lloyd's Register (through PlimsollShipData). Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 April 2014. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
31. ^ Masterson 1949, pp. 27, 320, 324, 326, 332, 338, 381, Appendix 30 p. 6.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Masterson, Dr. James R. (1949). U. S. Army Transportation In The Southwest Pacific Area 1941-1947. Washington, D. C.: Transportation Unit, Historical Division, Special Staff, U. S. Army.
* In China Seas: A History of the China Navigation Company (1964, China Navigation Company Ltd)
* The China Navigation Company Limited: A Pictorial History, 1872-2012, Charlotte Bleasdale (2012, Swire)
* The China Navigation Company: 150 Years - an Anthology (2022)

## External links

[edit]

* Company website
* WikiSwire website

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