Hamburg Amerikanische Paketfahrt Aktien-Gesellschaft (HAPAG) in history

The Hamburg-American Line (HAPAG Company) was first established in 1847, and it official name is Hamburg Amerikanische Paketfahrt Aktien-Gesellschaft.

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

P&O Nedlloyd

In 1963, Nederland Line and Royal Rotterdam Lloyd formed Nedlloyd Lines, each leasing twenty-five ships to the new concern.

In 1970, Nederland Line vessels were transferred to the new Royal Nedlloyd along with vessels of Royal Rotterdam Lloyd and United Netherlands Navigation Company.

The important merger in the shipping sector in EU was the creation of P&O Nedlloyd.

The company was formed in 1997 through the merger of the container-shipping interests of Dutch Royal Nedlloyd NV (Nedlloyd Line) and the British maritime shipping giant Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co (P&O Containers).

After the merger, P&O Nedlloyd becoming a market leader in logistic services and provides a total transportation service package geared to individual manufacturers and their customers’ needs. It has significant transportation and logistics operation across Europe.

In 2005, P&O Nedlloyd was acquired for Euro2.3 billion and the new merged company is named Maersk Line and thereby increased its global influence and professional skills in global logistics and international supply chain management.
P&O Nedlloyd

Hapag-Lloyd AG

Hapag-Lloyd AG is the transportation and logistics subsidiary of German tourism giant TUI AG.

Hapag-Lloyd traces its origins back to the mid-19th century and two venerable German shipping companies, Hamburg America Line of Hamburg and North German Lloyd of Bremen.

The Hapag Company was first established in 1847, and had merged with North German Lloyd (NGL), while the Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL) had been founded in 1856.

In 1900, Lloyd and Hapag shared the new contract to operate the Imperial Mail Steamer Service, sailing fortnightly from Hamburg and Bremerhaven alternately.

Until World War II, the two companies operated some of the world’s largest and fastest liners and were pioneers in the operation of pleasure cruises.

The two firms had themselves been conjoined in 1970 as Hapag-Lloyd with headquarters in Hamburg.

The Hapag-Lloyd was sufficiently successful to become a takeover objective, and in 1998 Preussag AG bought a controlling interest in the company. In 2009,  Preussag AG later name TUI AG sells Hapag-Lloyd to Albert Bali Holding GmbH AG & KG for 4.45 billion euro.
Hapag-Lloyd AG

History of Maersk

From a modest beginning in steam shipping in 1904, Maersk has grown into Denmark’s largest company, a dominant regional player in the North Sea oil and gas industry and the owner of the world’s largest container shipping fleet.

Maersk was established as a privately run shipping business (Svendborg Steamship Company) when 28 year old Arnold Peter Moller together with his father, Captain Peter Maersk Moller, bought a secondhand steamer of 2,200 tons dead weight.

In 1928, the first liner service under the name Maersk Line on the trans-Pacific route from the Far East to the United States. Maersk Line purchased its first container vessel in 1973.

Maersk entered the offshore support market in 1967 as the first Scandinavian shipping company and within a decade became a world leading operator of large offshore support vessels.

Later the offshore services were separated out to a separate business entity in 1974 with the new division named Maersk Supply Service.

In 1975 and 1976 the company bought nine fast container vessels for its transpacific line, the largest investment in the company’s history.

In 1965 Arnold Maersk McKinney Moller, son of Arnold Peter Moller, assumed the eldership of Maersk.
History of Maersk