Canton Salvage and Towage Co. Ltd.
Since its founding as Canton Salvage and Towage Corporation in 1905, the company has been owned by the Chan family. The history of the shipping company, however, goes back to the port worker San Min Han (died 1919), who founded a service company in 1879 in the upcoming Canton harbor and offered towing services, mooring and goods transhipment. In 1891, Han bought his first harbor tug. One year later he ordered his own new vessel. In 1897, Lien Chan became the first commercial clerk in San Min's company and sorted the administrative affairs of the company. He made the entry of the company in the commercial register as "Stevedore and Towing Company San Min Han" and operated a membership in the stock market. In 1905, the company now operated as a public limited company under the management of Lien Chan and San Min Han. The capital, divided into 400 bearer shares, was $ 400,000. The entry in the register on November 25, 1905 is considered the founding date of the shipping company. The new corporation expanded its business and operated, in addition to the port towing and other port assistance, also towing in the South China Sea and occasional rescue operations. With the death of San Min Han's the corporation was dissolved again and converted into a limited partnership, with Lien Chan as general partner. He then renamed the company into "Canton Salvage and Towage". In the following years the business could be extended further and further.
Under "Canton Towage", in addition to the towing business, a number of other ship and harbor assistance companies are now also merged, such as mooring, ship reporting, ship repair and steel construction. Currently, the shipping company owns 22 tugs, from a simple pusher to a big ocean salvage tug.