Tung Chao Yung

Who was Tung Chao Yung?

Tung Chao Yung better known as 董浩雲, Chinese: 董浩云; pinyin: Dōng Hàoyún, born 18th of the eighth lunar month in 1912; died 15 April 1982, also known as C. Y. Tung, was a Chinese shipping magnate, the founder of the Orient Overseas Line. He was the father of Tung Chee Hwa, the first Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China.

At the peak of his career, he owned a shipping fleet with over 150 freight ships; his fleet's cargo capacity exceeded 10 million tons. He was one of the world's top seven freight moguls; he was often called the Onassis of the Orient.

Tung believed in the importance of education. In September 1970, he bought the famous ocean liner RMS Queen Elizabeth to convert it into a floating university S.S. Seawise University to keep the World Campus Afloat program alive. On 9 January 1972, the ship caught on fire during refurbishing and sank into Hong Kong's harbour. The wreckage of the ship was featured in a James Bond movie. He did not give up the plan because of this setback. He bought a smaller ocean liner Atlantic to complete the plan. He cooperated with various Universities to run the academic sea program with the Institute of Shipboard Education entitled Semester at Sea.