“Hong Kong is in a sweet spot,” said Richard Hext last night on taking over the reins of the local shipowners association in one of the highlights of the city’s ongoing maritime week.  

Hext, the chairman of Vanmar Shipping, started his career 50 years ago working at a shipyard in Britain. His career is best known for his time with Swire, Pacific Basin and the founding of LevelSeas, an online broking platform. Yesterday he took over from Angad Banga from the Caravel Group as chair of the Hong Kong Shipowners Association (HKSOA) for the next two years with SeaKapital’s chief executive Kenneth Lam elected as his deputy. 

Hext said last night that Hong Kong is Beijing’s chosen city to exercise soft power. He highlighted the territory’s bilingual, common law system, with an unambiguous commitment to free trade, as reasons why the Chinese city can prosper as an international maritime hub. Hext also maintained Hong Kong would be “turbo-charged” by its connection with the Greater Bay Area, an agglomeration of southern Chinese cities including Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Macau.

The cocktails following the annual general meeting of the HKSOA also saw a minute’s silence to remember former chairman Dr Helmut Sohmen, who passed away last month aged 85. 

After a very tough year having been caught in the crosshairs of the trade spat between Beijing and Washington, which saw top owners such as Seaspan and Pacific Basin, relocate, Hong Kong authorities have used this week as a reset with many top names from global shipping in town to hear the Special Administrative Region’s maritime pitch, among which is an aim to be a leading provider of green fuels. 

John Lee, Hong Kong’s chief executive, speaking earlier in the week, said: “In a world being reshaped by geopolitical discord, technological disruption and climate change, these themes are more than aspirational. They sound an alarm, a wake-up call to collective action. In this era of profound and complex transformation, Hong Kong’s role as a stable, reliable and dynamic maritime hub has never been more vital.”

A new P&I club and some major changes to flag registration are among the main takeaways from the opening days of the ongoing Hong Kong Maritime Week. 

The China P&I Club (CPI) has launched the Hong Kong Shipowners Mutual Assurance Association Limited with the CPI saying the establishment of the Hong Kong P&I Club marks a strategic move to position Hong Kong as a leading hub for marine insurance, offering streamlined, one-stop P&I solutions.

Meanwhile, in the wake of a significant exodus of ships from its fleet, the Hong Kong Ship Registry is changing its rules. The secretary for transport and logistics, Mable Chan said earlier this week she was determined to enhance the flexibility of ship registration in Hong Kong, announcing plans to allow dual registration whereby Hong Kong-registered ships can be bareboat chartered under another flag.