Cheoy Lee Shipyards: Past, Present & Future
A Commitment To Progression...
To talk of Cheoy Lee’s success necessitates inclusion in the arena of world history. The Lo family and Cheoy Lee Shipyards date back to 1870 in Shanghai. In 1936 the family moved the business to Hong Kong specializing in the construction of cargo ships. Although successfully building vessels, the current family’s patriarch, Lo To, was apprentice in every field of shipbuilding. That became fortuitous because after the Second Sino-Japanese War, the skilled apprentice returned to an empty yard which had been stripped of all tools and usable product. In 1945, using his talents, one trade at a time, Lo To completed a boat single-handedly and created much of what Cheoy Lee Shipyards is today.
With dedication to quality and design superiority, Cheoy Lee diversified into the pleasure craft market primarily building sailboats for US export. During the 60s Cheoy Lee became one of the early researchers in testing and implementing fiberglass construction. In 1971, they were producing 30 sailboats per month by 1,000 employees while continuing their commercial shipbuilding success. By the time the patriarch’s eight sons grew into the business, having accumulated prestigious advanced degrees along the way, Cheoy Lee was one of the world’s most successful builders including construction of tugs, patrol boats, supply vessels, ferries and motoryachts ranging from trawlers, sailboats, and sportfishermen to mega-yachts.
Today, maintaining control by limiting the number of yards and employees, Cheoy Lee relies not only on their past heritage and current success, but the future as well. The eight brothers oversee the three divisions with 1,200 employees: Pleasure Craft at the yard in Doumen, China, Commercial Ships in Hong Kong, and shipyard related real estate.
Cheoy Lee’s foundation and successes can be attributed to the family’s formula: Reputation, Project Management, and Responsibility. Included in this is that funding is entirely in-house, precluding the need for relying on financial institutions or governments. The stability of the company is not tied to the vicissitudes of economic or political fluctuations. There are no Board of Directors and all eight siblings make the decisions through weekly discussions over breakfast. In times of economic downturns, the focus is on product development.
Cheoy Lee maintains its emphasis on research in technological advancements, building of prototypes, and stability for the long haul. In Doumen, China, at the new state-of-the-technology production facility, Cheoy Lee built its latest motoryacht, the Serenity 68, the flagship model of its new trawleryacht line.
The concepts and philosophies that have enabled Cheoy Lee Shipyards to create the finest of its class in the Serenity 68 have been proven successful in the commercial division as well. One of the latest projects is supplying escort tugs to the Panama Canal. After having delivered eight of the completed tugs from Hong Kong to Panama, Cheoy Lee received an order for an additional 13 of the 110 footers, obviously proving the product success.
Cheoy Lee is continuing to expand not just their ship production, but their technological innovations. Currently in the works is a diesel-electric propulsion system. While this is not a new concept, the successful application of it in the production yacht market is. With fuel economy, space saving equipment, and dramatic sound reductions, this will be a welcome offering. There’s no doubt that Cheoy Lee’s devotion to reputation and reliability combined with commitment to techno-progression will bring a successful change to the power plant systems.
