Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
In October of 2015, the Export-Import Bank of China (China Eximbank) entered into a $37.5 million USD loan agreement with the Foremost Maritime Company LLC (Foremost Group) — a New York-based shipping and trading firm owned by the Chao family — for the construction of two 180,000 deadweight tonnage (DWT) eco friendly bulk carriers. The loan carried a maturity period of seven years. In addition to the China Eximbank loan, the New York Office of Taiwan's First Commercial Bank also provided a $37.5 million USD loan facility with a maturity of seven years for the bulkers. The ships were being constructed by the Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding Heavy Industry, a subsidiary of the state-owned China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC). This was reportedly the first instance of cooperation between institutions from both China and Taiwan contributing to maritime ship financing. The founder and owner of the Foremost Group, James S. C. Chao, was present at the signing, as well as his daughter, Elaine L. Chao. Elaine Chao was the former Chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission and former Deputy U.S. Maritime Administrator, and held other high-level US government positions, including Secretary of Labor (under the second Bush administration) (and later served as Secretary of Transportation under the first Trump administration). Chao is also married to Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Senator and Senate Majority Leader, who also attended the signing.