Choy Lee
Cheoy Lee Shipyards Ltd., founded in the late 1800s as a family-operated wooden shipbuilding and repair yard on Shanghai's Pudong Peninsula by the Lo family—whose fourth and fifth generations continue to manage it today—relocated to Hong Kong in 1936 amid rising tensions, initially focusing on steel and wooden power cargo vessels, including repowered merchant sailers designed to evade Japanese blockades during World War II. By the mid-1950s, the yard diversified into luxury teak sailing and motor yachts for export, primarily to the U.S. market, pioneering early adoption of fiberglass (GRP) construction in the 1960s and becoming a forerunner in foam-sandwich composites; landmark builds included the 1957 Sparkman & Stephens-designed sloop Mah Jong—their first custom pleasure yacht—and the 1977 130-foot motorsailer Shango II, then the world's largest GRP vessel, alongside prolific series like the Lion 35 (over 100 hulls in wood and fiberglass) and collaborations with naval architects such as Bill Luders, Robert Perry, Philip Rhodes, and David Pedrick, resulting in over 4,500 yachts produced through the 1980s boom. Shifting to motor yachts by 1990 (with luxury models comprising 90% of output), the yard sold its Penny's Bay facility to the Hong Kong government in 1999 for Disneyland construction and relocated production to the state-of-the-art 12-hectare Hin Lee Shipyard in Zhuhai, mainland China, on the Pearl River—equipped with CNC machines, plasma cutters, and resin-infusion capabilities for vessels up to 70 meters—while maintaining a Hong Kong headquarters for repairs and a Fort Lauderdale office for yacht sales. Today, employing about 1,000, Cheoy Lee balances 80% commercial output (tugs, ferries, pilot boats, and over 140 Robert Allan-designed Z-Tech tugs) with 20% superyachts under the Cheoy Lee Yachts banner (custom explorers to 200 feet) and series-built fiberglass models via sister brand CL Yachts (e.g., CLB65 SUV and CLX96 explorers), emphasizing hybrid tech, class-certified builds, and timeless craftsmanship that has launched over 5,200 vessels worldwide, cementing its status as Asia's preeminent family-owned shipbuilder.