China Navigation Co, one of the oldest names in Asian shipping, will be restricted to a London-based holding company as shipping operations out of Singapore are officially rebranded as Swire Shipping.
James Woodrow, managing director of the company that was founded in 1872 by John Swire & Sons to operate a fleet of paddle steamers up the Yangtze River, announced the name change on Friday.
He said it is part of a strategy to streamline brands and "present customers and stakeholders with a consistent and unified experience across its product offerings".
"Swire Shipping is widely recognised as the operating name of the business and is well-established from a commercial and customer-facing perspective. Therefore, it is logical for us to use Swire Shipping as the primary name," Woodrow explained.
"The name change is expected to be seamless. It will not impact the existing nature and structure of the company, nor will it affect existing relations with customers, partners, suppliers, financial institutions, manufacturing, contracts, personnel and/or shareholders."
The China Navigation name will continue as the holding company in the UK.
Similarly, the names of the company’s subsidiary and branches in China, as well as the brand name Taigu Lunchuan (CNCo), will be retained, as "these names are deeply embedded with our corporate brand in the region".
In all other jurisdictions, the name will be changed to Swire Shipping.
Swire Shipping, under which all of China Navigation's liner, general cargo and project cargo services were grouped following the spin-off of Swire Bulk in January, will continue to focus on the Pacific, which the company described as the region that has been the backbone of its growth.
In August, ahead of the rebranding, the company embarked on renaming the vessels in its fleet after a Pacific Island nation or location.
"When someone thinks of shipping in the Pacific, they naturally think of Swire Shipping,” said chief operating officer Jeremy Sutton.
Most of the company's ships were previously named after locations in China. The renaming is expected to be completed by the end of the month.
