Sir Adrian Swire, who died last week aged 86, was a committed shipping man who oversaw the Swire group's diversification into tankers, bulkers, cruiseships and offshore, according to the company.
The patriarch was chairman of containership unit China Navigation Co (CNCo) from 1968 to 1988, seeing it through the switch to containerisation.
He first started work for CNCo in 1961 after returning from his initial group postings in Asia, according to Rob Jennings, head of archives at John Swire & Sons.
But it was his approach to broadening the group's shipowning horizons - a process he called "pepper-potting" - that saw it reach into different sectors, his company biography reveals.
The most enduring part of this has been bulkers through Swire Bulk and OSVs, which are still operated by Swire Pacific Offshore.
He always saw himself as a shipping man first, despite interests in Cathay Pacific and property.
Swire also oversaw a move to make investments outside of its core Chinese operations, including in Japan, the US and Australia.
"Office wallah" learns the ropes
He and his brother John demonstrated their belief in Hong Kong's future after the British hand-over to China in the 1990s by putting considerable sums into property and aviation there.
The younger son of Jock Swire became as knowledgeable about shipping operations as was possible for an "office wallah", taking a central place in the British industry, the company said.
He was president of the General Council of British Shipping in 1980/81, and chairman of the International Chamber of Shipping from 1982 to 1987, as well as a member of the general committee of Lloyd’s Register between 1967 and 1999.
His 1982 knighthood was for services to the shipping industry.
After he finally retired as chairman in 2005, he remained a regular presence in the London office as honorary president, helping to pass the baton on to the next generation of the family.
