Foremost Group
| Private | |
| ISIN | 🆔 |
| Industry | Shipping |
| Founded 📆 | 1964 |
| Founders 👔 | James S. C. Chao |
| Headquarters 🏙️ | New York City |
Area served 🗺️ | |
Key people | James S. C. Chao Angela Chao |
| Members | |
Number of employees | |
| 🌐 Website | www |
| 📇 Address | |
| 📞 telephone | |
The Foremost Group is a privately-held, family-run shipping company based in New York City,[1][2][3] with subsidiaries registered in the Marshall Islands.[4] It operates globally, chartering vessels to companies in the dry bulk shipping industry, and its fleet includes some of the world’s largest "capesize" bulk carriers,[3] with a focus on environmentally friendly operations.[5][1][6][7][8][9] Its clients include Bunge, Cargill, and Louis Dreyfus.[3] It was founded in 1964 by Chinese-American immigrant James Si-Cheng Chao and his wife Ruth Mulan Chu Chao.[10][5] Its chair and CEO since 2008 is Angela Chao, the sixth daughter of the company's founders.[11][12][3]
Foremost has had most of its ships built by China State Shipbuilding, some of them financed by loans from the state-owned Export-Import Bank of China.[13][14] In 2015 it began construction of the first freighter jointly financed by banks in both the People's Republic of China and Taiwan.[6] Its ships are registered under the flags of Liberia and Hong Kong.[2][4][14] Iron ore is one of its principle cargoes.[13] 72 percent of its freight is shipped to China, with its ships operating primarily in the region of Korea to Australia,[13][2][14] but also world-wide.
Early in its history, Foremost shipped rice to Vietnam under contract with the U.S. government during the Vietnam War.[4][14] The United Nations contracted with Foremost to deliver humanitarian cargo to Bangladesh during its war for independence in 1971.[4] From 2012 to 2019 its fleet grew from 17 to 33 ships, valued at $1.2 billion, the most valuable of any dry bulk shipper headquartered in the United States.[2] It ordered the construction of 10 bulk cargo vessels in 2017 and 2018, the majority from Japanese shipyards.[15][3]
The company has come under scrutiny due to perceived conflicts of interest involving Elaine Chao – daughter of its founders and sister of its current CEO – and her husband Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.[16][17] Additional attention has related to Elaine Chao's role as Secretary of Transportation – which regulates U.S.-registered cargo vessels – in the administration of President Donald Trump.[4][18][15]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Foremost Maritime Co LLC - Company Profile and News". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Tindera, Michela. "A $59 Million Will Sheds Light On Shipping Fortune Connected To Elaine Chao And Mitch McConnell". Forbes. Retrieved 2019-07-05.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Lipton), Eric. "May 2019 Foremost Group Fact Sheet". www.documentcloud.org. Retrieved 2019-07-05.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 "Family's Shipping Company Could Pose Problems for…". ProPublica. 2016-12-12. Retrieved 2019-02-20.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Foremost Group returns to Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding for bulker pair -". Splash 247. 2017-06-29. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "China-Taiwan ship finance deal funds Foremost newbuilds". Marine Log. 2015-10-22. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
- ↑ Liang, Lee Hong; Liang, Lee Hong. "Foremost Group books two more capesize bulkers at SWS". www.seatrade-maritime.com. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
- ↑ "Foremost Group orders kamsarmax pair at CSSC Chengxi - Maritime Shipping News". watch.maritime-network.com. 2019-02-21. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
- ↑ "China SWS Build More Carriers for Foremost Group_信德海事网-专业海事信息咨询服务平台". www.xindemarinenews.com. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
- ↑ "Harvard Business School Building Boom Continues". Harvard Magazine. October 12, 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
- ↑ "Angela Chao - Official Website". Angela Chao - Official Website. Retrieved 2019-02-20.
- ↑ "Speaker Angela Chao". AngelaChao.com. Retrieved 2019-02-20.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Lipton, Eric; Forsythe, Michael (2019-06-02). "For the Chao Family, Deep Ties to the World's 2 Largest Economies". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-07-05.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 Forsythe, Michael; Lipton, Eric; Bradsher, Keith; Wee, Sui-Lee (2019-06-02). "A 'Bridge' to China, and Her Family's Business, in the Trump Cabinet". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-07-05.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Snyder, Tanya. "Did Elaine Chao's DOT interviews help her family's business?". Politico. Retrieved 2019-02-20.
- ↑ Fang, Lee (2014-10-30). "Mitch McConnell's Freighted Ties to a Shadowy Shipping Company". ISSN 0027-8378. Retrieved 2019-02-20.
- ↑ Getlen, Larry (2018-03-18). "How McConnell and Chao used political power to make their family rich". New York Post. Retrieved 2019-02-20.
- ↑ Fang, Lee; Woodman, Spencer (2018-02-05). "Global Shipping Business Tied to Mitch McConnell, Secretary Elaine Chao Shrouded in Offshore Tax Haven". The Intercept. Retrieved 2019-02-20.
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