In 1955, Yue-Kong Pao bought his first vessel, a 27-year-old coal-burning freighter. Twenty-five years later, the company house flag was flying proudly on board nearly 200 vessels, the largest fleet ever assembled in private ownership. Today, the BW group remains a major player in the tanker market, as well as having a significant dry bulk fleet, together comprising about 10 million tonnes of cargo carrying capacity. Over the last 30 years, it has built over 300 ships in shipyards around the world, and will continue to renew and grow its fleet.