In the summer of 1949, when the Company moved to Hong Kong it brought with it two steamships, the MV YUNG YAO and the MV CHING HAI. In the hurried departure from Shanghai, the classification documents of these two vessels were left behind and were lost in the war. As these vessels did not possess the required certificates to trade they were subsequently sold for scrap value. A third ship, the MV TAI SANG, a vessel that was jointly owned by Mr. K.M. Koo, who is current chairman of the Group and Mr. Z. S. Bourne of the Shanghai Coke Company, was commandeered by the Local Government but operated by Tai Chong Cheang and traded between Canton, Hainan and Taiwan. After the sale of the MV YUNG YAO and MV CHING HAI the Company bought a secondhand steamship the 3545 gross tons, 5182 dwt, MV VALLES. In 1950, "The VALLES STEAMSHIP COMPANY" was registered in Hong Kong with 1/3rd shares owned by Mr. C. S. Koo and the balance 2/3rd shares owned by Mr. K. M. Koo. The custom brokerage house and ship owning company in China, Tai Chong Cheang CEASED TO EXIST.

At about this time the mantle of leadership of the Valles Group passed to Mr. C. S. Koo's eldest son, Mr. K. M. Koo. Mr. C. S. Koo went on to lead a retired life and was actively involved in social projects in Shanghai.

Soon after the MV VALLES, the Company purchased a further three ships, MV BELLA which was later renamed the MV BANDUNG, the MV ALICE and the MV SANDRA. While the MV VALLES and the MV BELLA were chartered to Pelni Line, a subsidiary of the Indonesian Government, the MV ALICE and the MV SANDRA were chartered to Shinwa Kaiun and Shinnihon Lines respectively. As per the structure at that time, these vessels were registered under the Wheelock Martin name, with sole beneficial ownership with the chairman of the Group .

In the mid 1950's and early 1960's, a number of 10000 grt general cargo vessels like the MV SILVER CONSTELLATION, MV SILVER PAGODA, MV SILVER PEAK, MV SEATRADE and MV SILVER LONGEVITY were added to the Company's fleet. These vessels were fixed on long-term charter to several major North American and Japanese ship charterers like Seaboard, Showa, K-Line, Japan Line, NYK MOSK and Yamashita Line.

In 1955, Valles also acquired its first tankers the MT SILVER OCEAN which was chartered to ESSO and the MT SILVER CASTLE which was chartered to the Mobil Oil Company and in 1958, the MT SILVER BAY which was also chartered to the Mobil Oil Company.