Swire's marine interests cover a wide range of activities, from liner shipping to the provision of offshore support services to the international oil and gas industry, and from harbour and ocean towage and salvage to ship repair and shipping agency services. Our involvement in this industry dates back some 160 years. The China Navigation Company (CNCo) was established by Swire in 1872 − originally to operate paddle steamers on China's Yangtze River. Today, in addition to ship owning and management, CNCo acts as the holding company for Swire's liner shipping operations and shipping agency businesses, which are concentrated on its core trading region in the Asia Pacific.

The 1970s oil boom encouraged Swire to become involved in offshore marine support, forming Swire Pacific Offshore (SPO) in 1975. Over the last 30 years, the company has established a reputation as one of the leading service providers in the industry, equipped with a large and modern fleet to support the entire spectrum of exploration and production activities.

Headquartered in Singapore, SPO has regional offices in Angola, Australia, Azerbaijan, Brunei, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, India, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Qatar, Scotland, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates, and operates vessels in every major oil exploration region outside of North America. Through the acquisition of Blue Ocean, SPO has become involved in offshore wind generation installation activity.

Swire's early ship owning interests led to involvement in ship repair and ship building and the Taikoo Dockyard, which operated for 70 years from the early 1900s, was in its day Hong Kong's largest employer. In the 1970s, Taikoo amalgamated with the Hong Kong & Whampoa Dock Company to form Hongkong United Dockyards − now known as the HUD Group − which offers a comprehensive range of ship repair and engineering services, as well as operating a fleet of sophisticated harbour and ocean-going tugs. Swire, through various subsidiaries, also offers ship management, shipping agency, stevedoring and freight forwarding services at ports around the Asia Pacific region.