SINGAPORE – Mr Teo Siong Seng, a towering figure in Singapore’s maritime and business landscapes for decades, is at the centre of an investigation by the United States Department of Justice.The 71-year-old is accused of conspiring with executives from other shipping container companies as part of a price-fixing cartel that artificially inflated the prices of dry shipping containers by restricting their production.The prices of standard shipping containers roughly doubled between 2019 and 2021 during the Covid pandemic, resulting in a nearly hundredfold profit increase for four of the world’s largest container manufacturers, including Singamas Container Holdings, whose chief executive is Mr Teo.Of the seven executives named in US court documents, one has been arrested.Chinese national Vick Ma, a marketing director at Singamas, was nabbed in France in April and is currently awaiting extradition to the US.The others accused are Mr Mai Boliang, who was president and chief executive of China International Marine Containers (CIMC) before becoming the firm’s chairman in August 2020; Mr Huang Tianhua, vice-president of CIMC; Mr Wan Yongbo, general manager of CIMC’s Operation Management Centre; Mr Li Qianmin, general manager of Shanghai Universal Logistics Equipment; and CXIC Group Containers’ chief executive Zhang Yuqiang.Mr Teo is the son of late shipping tycoon Chang Yun Chung, who founded Pacific International Lines (PIL), the parent company of Singamas.In a video posted by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore on Jan 26, he said his father broached the topic of sailing as a cadet when he was just 13, with the experience affirming that “maritime is what I’m interested in, and shipping will be my career”.That teenage realisation led him to pursue a degree in Naval Architecture & Ocean Engineering at Glasgow University. After he graduated from the course with first-class honours in 1979, he started work at his father’s company.Thirteen years later, Mr Teo became managing director of PIL in 1992, taking over from his father as chairman on April 1, 2018.Beyond shipping, Mr Teo is deeply involved in Singapore’s business ecosystem, holding a large portfolio of high-profile appointments.When he was 38, he joined the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, becoming its chairman between 2009 and 2013.He juggled his role as chairman with that of a Nominated Member of Parliament, where he represented the business sector and Chinese community from 2009 to 2014.In 2014, he became the chairman of the Singapore Business Federation, which he led until 2020. He took on the role again in May 2025, and by virtue of that, sits on the Singapore Economic Resilience Taskforce, which was formed to address the impact of US tariffs globally, which includes a 10 per cent duty on Singapore.He is also a pro-chancellor at the National University of Singapore and the Honorary Consul of Tanzania to Singapore.On May 20, Singamas said in a filing on the Hong Kong exchange that neither the firm nor Mr Teo has been served with any legal filings by the US Justice Department in relation to the accusations.Aqil Hamzah is a transport journalist at The Straits Times. He is also interested in issues related to crime and technology.