The HAPAG began business with three copper-bottomed sailing ships of together 1600 register tons, and with a capital of 460,000 marks.
It was not until 1853 that the company decided to commission its first steam-powered vessels. It was built by Caird & Co. of Greenock.
Business for the HAPAG was excellent in the decade 1870-70. Especially was this true for the years 1865-66-67. The American Civil War was over and commerce we renewed with the Union, which needed sullies to repair the devastation that had been wrought.
In 1861, the company won the American mail transport contract. New ships were commissioned, schedules improved, passenger numbers increased year by year and new lines were introduced.
In 1886 HAPAG acquired the Carr Line, a small Hamburg firm involved in the emigration traffic.
As part of the merger, the head of the Carr Line’s passenger division, Albert Ballin, took over that function for the HAPAG. He transformed the HAPAQ into what became in 1899 the world’s largest steamship line the year in which Ballin became its managing director.
In 1970, HAPAG merged with the Bremen-based North German Lloyd to form Hapag-Lloyd AG.
Hamburg Amerikanische Paketfahrt Aktien-Gesellschaft (HAPAG) in history
