BIMCO Awards Leadership, Innovation, Pioneering Business Strategy

BIMCO today presented three awards to recognise and celebrate excellence in the global shipping industry among both companies and individuals in the industry – following BIMCO’s conference in Shanghai. This year the importance of leadership, innovation and pioneering business strategy in shipping were clearly recognised by the judges in the choice of winners.

BIMCO President Philippe Louis-Dreyfus chose to give the BIMCO President’s Award to the Tung family from Hong Kong, who run OOCL among other companies.  The award celebrates an individual, family or company who has made a significant contribution to shipping and the maritime industry. The award was received by CC Tung, on behalf of the family.

Mr Louis-Dreyfus said, “This award is in recognition of the tremendous contribution the family has made to the development of international shipping and logistics since C. Y. Tung bought his first ship in 1947 . The leadership of the company has been passed successfully down through the Tung family. They have developed their shipping businesses in times of growth and during market downturns, always with an eye on the longer term perspective”.

“In addition, the family has not just focused on its own business but has also made a broader contribution to the shipping industry, taking on leadership roles such as Chairman of the Hong Kong Shipowners Association and President of BIMCO”.

The BIMCO Shipping Company of the Year Award, sponsored by Navig8, is for a company which has demonstrated innovative customer service, business profitability and solid service reliability.  This year, the award was won by COSCO Shipping and collected by Mr. Min Wan, the President of COSCO Shipping Group.

The judging panel chose COSCO Shipping for this award because of “the company’s role as a shipping innovator and pioneer”. The panel also noted the massive merger of COSCO and China Shipping Group which “achieved a solid consolidation, leaving COSCO shipping well-positioned for the future”. 

The BIMCO Regional Shipping Personality of the Year, sponsored by Wintell & Co and Holman Fenwick Willan, recognises an exceptional personal contribution to the industry over the last 12 months.

This award went to Mr Andreas Sohmen-Pao, the Chairman of the BW Group. The judges chose Mr Sohmen-Pao in recognition of his skills as “a strong strategic planner which has ensured that BW group today covers a broad range of markets with positive sustainable development. He has expanded their LPG and LNG units together with the portfolio of chemical tankers, product tankers and FPSOs – alongside the exciting new development of a new dry bulk unit.”

Mrs Juliet Huang, BW Group’s chief representative in China, collected the award on Mr Sohmen-Pao’s behalf.