Unique Shipping (Hong Kong) Limited is very aptly named. The company is now a well-established medium-size, shipping group in the Asia Pacific region, involved in a broad cross section of the maritime industry, in both conventional and specialized shipping sectors.

Established in 1966 as a private ship owning and management entity, it was founded by W.S. Cheng, who had been living in Japan for many years, and who acted as a channel between Japanese time charterers, and Hong Kong ship owners, in which role he became instrumental in the successful rise of many Hong Kong shipping companies during the mid to late 1960s. His specialist knowledge of the Japanese time charter market brought to the industry in Hong Kong a ‘Unique’ and specialist knowledge, that was highly regarded and sought by the Hong Kong Ship owners and managers, alike.

The Unique Group has acquired over one hundred vessels at various times throughout the years from its inception, including owning a diversified fleet consisting of Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCC), bulk carriers, container ships, pipe carriers, woodchip carriers, pure car carriers, reefer carriers, product oil tankers and Very Large Gas Carriers (VLGC) at different times. Amongst Hong Kong ship owners they have become recognized as developers of specialist types of shipping such as pipe carriers, woodchip carriers, pure car carriers and, reefer ships, to name but a few.

Control and management of ‘Unique’ was handed over to the founder’s eldest son Edward Cheng, a marine engineer by profession, with over 4 decades of shipping experience. He initially joined the group in the late 1960s and was appointed chairman of the group in 2006. Paul Cheng, the son of Edward Cheng, joined the Company in 2008. Paul was appointed as Vice Chairman of the group in 2014 which signifies the gradual passing of leadership to the 3rd generation, which is recognized as an important milestone for the Company. In 2006 full Technical Management was outsourced to 3rd party management company, Anglo Eastern group.

1968 heralded the delivery of the first of two new building vessels to the fleet, Snow White (above) a bulk carrier built by Sumitomo Uraga Dock in Japan with a gross tonnage of 15,923. The other newbuild was the Princess Aurora.

Another milestone in the company profile was the establishment of Ocean Lines in 1978 as part of the group, with two vessels Ocean Ace and Ocean Diamond, which were independent of Japanese time charterers.

Delivery to the Unique Group of a newbuilding 60,665 dwt bulk carrier Panther took place in 1982. She was built by Hashihama Tadotsu Shipyard. This vessel was the group’s first venture into European markets, with the vessel being fixed for 10 years, to European interests. She ended her days reflagged to Panama as Five Stars Eternal.

Further expansion and diversification of the company fleet took place in 1985 with the delivery of two specialized Combination OBO Carriers (Oil-Bulk-Ore), Cougar and Jaguar, which enhanced the group’s consolidation with European Trading Houses and their Charterers.

In 1992 Unique Shipping further diversified their fleet, by introducing two Reefer vessels, the Chiquita Honshu and Chiquita Sulu. This was a new venture for the company.

Between 1996-1998 saw additional expansion of Unique’s business portfolio, to encompass containerization after taking delivery of a series of three second-hand container vessels from A. P. Moller, the Maersk Tacoma, Maersk Tokyo and Maersk Toba (above).

Another addition to the fleet took place in 1999 with the further acquisition of the new design of the Medium Range Tanker (MRT) Rainbow Quest from Japan’s Onomichi Dockyard, with additional newbuildings of the IMO II/III type MR tankers, Unique Guardian and Unique Harmony (above) from the same dockyard shortly thereafter. Onomichi Dockyard maintained its close association with Unique Shipping with deliveries of three additional MR Tankers, the Unique Developer, Unique Explorer and Unique Fidelity in 2010. Other additions during the subsequent decade included the MRTs Unique Guardian, Unique Harmony, and Unique Infinity, all from Onomichi Dockyard. At least one of this trio being assigned to Univan Ship Management Ltd. as Technical Managers.

In the interim years Unique Shipping had been active in other sectors of the shipping market with new arrivals into their fleet of two Afrimax Tankers, Unique Privilege and Unique Priority (above) , as well as the acquisition of the Antwerpen a 35,000m3 MGC (Medium size Gas Carrier), capable of carrying ammonia.

The VLGCs, Berge Ningbo and Berge Nantong (above) were built for the Group by Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) in Korea, entering service in 2006.

The 50th year of the Unique Group’s operations was celebrated by the delivery of yet another VLGC, appropriately named Oriental Jubilee (above) from HHI.

The long-established connection with Hyundai Heavy Industries continued, with the delivery of the 7th VLGC Oriental King (above) in 2017.

The 178,000 dwt, bulker Unique Carrier, built in Waigaoqiao Shipyard (SWS) in Shanghai, China and delivered to Unique Shipping in 2007 was reported as being sold in early 2021, for further trading, to Singapore’s Berge Bulk Group and was renamed Berge Broad Peak. This sale permitted Unique to focus on its specialist tankers, a mix of gas and product carriers.

Today, the Unique Group continues as a pioneering, vibrant, innovative, and diversified enterprise, operating modern tonnage in the competitive world of shipping.

They operate 10 vessels, including 1 Product Oil Tanker, 3 Product Oil/Chemical Tankers and 6 LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) Carriers. Aggregated tonnage amounted to approximate 0.48 million deadweight tons. The average age per vessel is 10.7 years as of August 2021.