Foremost Group
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Shipping |
| Founded | 1964 |
| Founders | James S. C. Chao |
| Headquarters | New York City |
Key people | James S. C. Chao Angela Chao |
| Website | www |
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 principal 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]
In 2014, Colombian authorities discovered around 90 pounds of cocaine on the Ping May, a cargo ship owned by the Foremost Group.[16]
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.[17][18] 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][19][15][20] In 2020, the company received a forgivable loan valued between $350,000 and $1 million under the Paycheck Protection Program, designed to help small businesses that would be otherwise unable to remain solvent during the COVID-19 pandemic.[21]
References
- ^ a b "Foremost Maritime Co LLC - Company Profile and News". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
- ^ a b c d Tindera, Michela. "A $59 Million Will Sheds Light On Shipping Fortune Connected To Elaine Chao And Mitch McConnell". Forbes. Retrieved 2019-07-05.
- ^ a b c d e Lipton), Eric. "May 2019 Foremost Group Fact Sheet". www.documentcloud.org. Retrieved 2019-07-05.
- ^ a b c d e "Family's Shipping Company Could Pose Problems for…". ProPublica. 2016-12-12. Retrieved 2019-02-20.
- ^ a b "Foremost Group returns to Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding for bulker pair -". Splash 247. 2017-06-29. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
- ^ a b "China-Taiwan ship finance deal funds Foremost newbuilds". Marine Log. 2015-10-22. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b c 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.
- ^ a b c d 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.
- ^ a b Snyder, Tanya. "Did Elaine Chao's DOT interviews help her family's business?". Politico. Retrieved 2019-02-20.
- ^ Putterman, Samantha (2020-02-26). "Story exaggerates 2014 drug bust on cargo ship owned by McConnell's family". Politifact. Retrieved 2019-08-06.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Lipton, Eric; Forsythe, Michael (2019-09-16). "Elaine Chao Investigated by House Panel for Possible Conflicts". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-09-17.
- ^ Roos, Meghan (2020-07-06). "McConnell's Wife's Family Business Appears on Trump Admin's List of Companies That Received Most PPP Money". Newsweek. Retrieved 2020-07-08.
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