Foremost Group

Foremost Group is a privately held American shipping company, headquartered in New York City.^[1][2][3][4] It operates globally, chartering vessels to companies in the dry bulk shipping industry.^[3] Its clients include Bunge (St. Louis, MO), Cargill (Minnetonka, MN), Dreyfus (Rotterdam), MOL (Tokyo) and NYK Line (Tokyo).^[3] Foremost Group was founded in 1964 by James Si-Cheng Chao and his wife Ruth Mulan Chu Chao, who each immigrated to the United States from China by way of Taiwan.^[5][6] Its chair and CEO since 2008 is Angela Chao, the sixth daughter of the company's founders and the third of their children born in the United States.^[7][8][3]

Foremost Group

Type	Private
Industry	Shipping
Founded	1964 (1964)
Founders	James S. C. Chao
Headquarters	New York City
Key people	James S. C. Chao Angela Chao
Website	www.foremostgroupusa.com

Commercial operations

Seventy two percent of the freight its ships carry on behalf of its charterers is shipped to China, with its ships operating primarily in the region of Korea to Australia,^[9][2][10] but also world-wide. Iron ore, bauxite, and other bulk dry goods are the principal cargoes carried by its charterers, who choose the routes and cargoes carried.^[11][9]

Customers have been reported to include Japan's NYK Line and MOL, Dreyfus of France, and both Bunge and Cargill of the United States.^[12]

Humanitarian shipments

Early in its history, Foremost shipped rice to Vietnam under contract with the U.S. government during the Vietnam War.^[4][10] The United Nations contracted with Foremost to deliver humanitarian cargo to Bangladesh during its war for independence in 1971.^[4]

Fleet

SUNY Maritime College called its fleet “one of the youngest and most environmentally friendly fleets in the world.”^[13] In 2015 it began construction of the first cargo ship jointly financed by banks in both the People's Republic of China and Taiwan; the Beijing office of China's Export Import Bank and the New York branch of Taiwan's First Commercial Bank each provided equal loan facilities to support construction of two 180,000-dwt bulk carriers.^[14] Its ships are registered under the flags of Liberia and Hong Kong.^[2][4][10] Foremost has had some of its ships built by China State Shipbuilding, some of them financed by loans from the state-owned Export-Import Bank of China.^[9][10]

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 2019, Foremost received an "eco-friendly" post-Panamax bulk carrier built by Japanese Oshima Shipyards in Nagasaki Prefecture and financed by the First Commercial Bank of Taiwan.^[16]

In 2022, Foremost ordered two additional "eco-friendly" 185,000-dwt capesize bulk carriers from Japan’s Namura Shipbuilding capable of carrying multiple bulk cargoes such as iron ore and bauxite. The ships are anticipated to comply with EEDI “phase III” requirements for reduced emissions and increased efficiency.^[17] Some sources report the vessels will initially serve Foremost’s long-term contract with Japanese shipper NYK Line.^[18]

Controversies

Based in part on Foremost's Pacific-Rim trade, President Trump referred to James Chao's daughter, Elaine Chao, using a racist slur and labelled the Taiwan-born U.S. citizen as a "China lover." The slur was immediately condemned by political and community leaders and civil rights groups including the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League.^[19]

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 then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.^[20][21] Additional attention has related to Elaine Chao's role as Secretary of Transportation – which regulated U.S.-registered cargo vessels – during the administration of President Donald Trump.^{[4][22][15][23]}

References

1. "Foremost Maritime Co LLC - Company Profile and News". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
2. Tindera, Michela. "A $59 Million Will Sheds Light On Shipping Fortune Connected To Elaine Chao And Mitch McConnell". Forbes. Retrieved 2019-07-05.
3. Lipton), Eric. "May 2019 Foremost Group Fact Sheet". www.documentcloud.org. Retrieved 2019-07-05.
4. "Family's Shipping Company Could Pose Problems for…". ProPublica. 2016-12-12. Retrieved 2019-02-20.
5. "Harvard Business School Building Boom Continues". Harvard Magazine. October 12, 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
6. "Foremost Group returns to Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding for bulker pair -". Splash 247. 2017-06-29. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
7. "Angela Chao - Official Website". Angela Chao - Official Website. Retrieved 2019-02-20.
8. "Speaker Angela Chao". AngelaChao.com. Retrieved 2019-02-20.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. Blenkey, Nick (2022-07-19). "Foremost Group orders two eco-friendly capesizes at Namura". Marine Log. Retrieved 2023-01-08.
12. Staff, Marine Log (2019-10-04). "Foremost Group takes delivery of eco-friendly bulker". Marine Log. Retrieved 2023-01-09.
13. "Maritime to honor Foremost Group's Dr. James S.C. Chao, Angela Chao; Turner Construction's Joseph Byrne | SUNY Maritime College". sunymaritime.edu. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
14. "China-Taiwan ship finance deal funds Foremost newbuilds". Marine Log. 2015-10-22. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
15. Snyder, Tanya. "Did Elaine Chao's DOT interviews help her family's business?". Politico. Retrieved 2019-02-20.
16. "Foremost Grows Fleet with Post-Panamax Newbuild". Offshore Energy. 2019-10-07. Retrieved 2023-01-09.
17. Blenkey, Nick (2022-07-19). "Foremost Group orders two eco-friendly capesizes at Namura". Marine Log. Retrieved 2023-01-14.
18. Ang (i_ang), Irene (2022-07-20). "Foremost Group turns to Japan for eco-friendly capesize bulker newbuildings | TradeWinds". TradeWinds | Latest shipping and maritime news. Retrieved 2023-01-14.
19. Board, The Editorial (2022-08-31). "Opinion | Donald Trump's Vendetta Politics". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
20. Fang, Lee (2014-10-30). "Mitch McConnell's Freighted Ties to a Shadowy Shipping Company". ISSN 0027-8378. Retrieved 2019-02-20.
21. Getlen, Larry (2018-03-18). "How McConnell and Chao used political power to make their family rich". New York Post. Retrieved 2019-02-20.
22. 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.
23. 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.