Although C.Y. Tung conventional liners, such as S.S. Ru Yung, carried some passengers, he never had any real passenger ship. Despite the decline of passenger shipping lines, C.Y. Tung believed there was still hope for passenger ship services. He bought many of the ships as their owners gave up the struggle. He refurbished them and put them into operation on various routes under new names. His ambition in the passenger ships started in 1969 when he brought Ruahine, Rangitane and Rangitoto from New Zealand Shipping Company and renamed them to Oriental Rio, Oriental Esmeralda, and Oriental Carnival respectively. He deployed the Oriental Rio in his first short-lived round the world cargo/passenger service. The ships sailed from Hong Kong, Keelung and Yokohama to Port Everglades, USA; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Cristobal, Panama and Acapulco, Mexico. The majority of passengers were from the U.S. and boarded an the port of Port Everglades.