HMS Global Maritime

Last updated
HMS Global Maritime
Industry Transportation, Cruises
Founded1994
Headquarters New Albany, Indiana, United States
Key people
John Waggoner, President & CEO [1]
Website hmsgm.com

HMS Global Maritime is a maritime conglomerate headquartered in New Albany, Indiana.The company consists of five divisions - American Queen Steamboat Company, Victory Cruise Line, HMS Ferries, Seaward Services and HMS Consulting. The line operates globally, but mostly within North America, Japan and surrounding waters.

Contents

History

HMS Global Maritime was founded as Hornblower Marine Services in 1994 by former director of marine operations at Hornblower Cruises, John Waggoner. [2]

In 2018 the company was awarded Louisville Business First's "Business of the Year" award in the very large company category. [3]

American Queen Steamboat Company

After the demise of Majestic America Line in 2008 and three years of sitting idle at the Beaumont Reserve Fleet in Beaumont, Texas, the then 16 year-old steamer American Queen was acquired by HMS Global Maritime in 2011 with the help of a $9 million loan from the city of Memphis, Tennessee. Out of this acquisition, American Queen Steamboat Company was formed. [4]

The AQSC fleet currently consists of four river cruiseships: American Queen (re-launched in 2012), American Empress (launched in 2014), American Duchess (launched in 2017), and American Countess (launched in 2020). All four vessels operate solely within the United States, with Queen, Duchess and Countess sailing the Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, Cumberland and Illinois Rivers, and Empress sailing the Columbia and Snake Rivers.

Victory Cruise Lines

In 2019, HMS Global acquired Victory Cruise Lines. The line's two vessels were taken out of service for the first few months after the purchase to undergo multi-million dollar renovations. [5] In an AQSC company publication, CEO John Waggoner stated that repeat AQSC passengers had for a long time expressed the desire to cruise the Great Lakes. [6]

The Victory Cruise Lines fleet currently consists of Victory I and Victory II which cruise the Great Lakes during the Summer and U.S. east coast and Mexico during colder months. [7] In 2021, the line's upcoming third vessel, Ocean Victory is expected to completed and will sail Alaska. [8]

HMS Ferries

HMS Ferries is a division of HMS Global that operates the following ferry vessels across the United States: [9]

Seaward Services

Seaward Services is a division of HMS Global that provides operation, maintenance and repair to government and privately owned vessels. Of the vessels Seaward Services is currently contracted to, one is the USNS Guam. [10]

HMS Consulting

HMS Consulting offers professional guidance related to maritime business development, safety, risk management and technical services. [11]

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Star Cruises

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<i>Delta Queen</i> Historic American steamboat

The Delta Queen is an American sternwheel steamboat. She is known for historically cruising the major rivers that constitute the tributaries of the Mississippi River, particularly in the American South. She was docked in Chattanooga, Tennessee and served as a floating hotel until purchased by the newly formed Delta Queen Steamboat Company. She was towed to Houma, Louisiana, in March 2015 for refurbishing to her original condition.

CP Ships

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SS Mission San Jose was a Type T2-SE-A2 tanker built for the United States Maritime Commission during World War II. After the war she was acquired by the United States Navy as USS Mission San Jose. Later the tanker transferred to the Military Sea Transportation Service as USNS Mission San Jose. She was a Mission Buenaventura-class oiler and was named for Mission San José, located in Fremont, California.

American Cruise Lines

American Cruise Lines, Inc. is a small-ship cruise line with its headquarters in Guilford, Connecticut, United States. The line operates twelve small cruise ships along the Eastern Seaboard and Western Seaboard as well as the Mississippi-Ohio and Columbia-Snake river systems of the United States.

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American Queen

American Queen is said to be the largest river steamboat ever built. The ship was built in 1995 and is a six-deck recreation of a classic Mississippi riverboat, built by McDermott Shipyard for the Delta Queen Steamboat Company. Although the American Queen's stern paddlewheel is indeed powered by a steam plant, her secondary propulsion, in case of an emergency and for maneuverability around tight areas where the paddle wheel can not navigate, comes from a set of diesel-electric propellers known as Z-drives on either side of the sternwheel. She has 222 state rooms for a capacity of 436 guests and a crew of 160. She is 418 feet (127 m) long and 89 feet (27 m) wide.

American Empress

The American Empress is a 360-foot (110 m) diesel-powered paddle-wheeler that was formerly operated by Majestic America Line and named the Empress of the North. She was built in 2002 at the Nichols Brothers Boat Builders shipyard on Whidbey Island, in the U.S. state of Washington, for $50 million and debuted as a cruise ship in 2003. She is listed as accommodating 223 guests, and originally cruised Alaska's Inside Passage, the Pacific Northwest, and the Columbia River. While being operated by Majestic America Line, the ship was decorated with a 19th century Russian theme, but with Alaskan touches in the form of carvings and masks.

City Cruises

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<i>Sabino</i> (steamer)

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Great Lakes passenger steamers

The history of commercial passenger shipping on the Great Lakes is long but uneven. It reached its zenith between the mid-19th century and the 1950s. As early as 1844, palace steamers carried passengers and cargo around the Great Lakes. By 1900, fleets of relatively luxurious passenger steamers plied the waters of the lower lakes, especially the major industrial centres of Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo, and Toronto.

Cremyll Ferry

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American Classic Voyages

American Classic Voyages was an American-based cruise ship holding company cruise line, headquartered in Chicago, that operated between 1993 and 2001. The company attempted to take advantage of federal loans and other incentives to build and grow a US-flagged passenger ship industry. The company traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the ticker symbol "AMCV". The company operated the Delta Steamboat Company, Delta Queen Coastal Voyages, American Hawaii Cruises and United States Lines.

Sitmar Cruises

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Tourist sternwheelers of Oregon

Since the early 1980s, several non-steam-powered sternwheel riverboats have been built and operated on major waterways in the U.S. state of Oregon, primarily the Willamette and Columbia Rivers, as river cruise ships used for tourism. Although configured as sternwheelers, they are not paddle steamers, but rather are motor vessels that are only replicas of paddle steamers. They are powered instead by diesel engines. The Lurdine was, when launched in 1983, "the first passenger-carrying sternwheeler in decades to [operate] on the Columbia River". In the case of the 1983-built M.V. Columbia Gorge, the construction and operation of a tourist sternwheeler was led by local government officials who viewed the idea as potentially being a major tourist attraction, giving an economic boost to their area, Cascade Locks, Oregon.

Captain Cook Cruises, Australia

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<i>American Duchess</i>

American Duchess is a river cruise paddlewheeler owned and operated by American Queen Steamboat Company. It is the third addition to the AQSC fleet and is advertised as being the most luxurious option of the line's vessels. The riverboat's itineraries include routes on the Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, Cumberland and Illinois Rivers.

References

  1. "John Waggoner". Bloomberg.
  2. Ervin, Heather. "HMS Global Maritime Grows With A Year Of Firsts". The Waterways Journal.
  3. Chottiner, Lee. "2018 Very Large Company Winner HMS Global Maritime". Louisville Business First.
  4. Genzlinger, Neil. "One Week on a Mississippi Steamboat Cruise". The New York Times.
  5. Clausing, Jeri. "American Queen completes Victory Cruise Lines acquisition". Travel Weekly.
  6. "American Queen Steamboat Company Completes Purchase Of Victory I, II". Travel Agent Central.
  7. "Victory Cruise Lines 2020 Itineraries Released". Cruise Industry News.
  8. Christoff, Janeen. "Victory Cruise Lines' Ocean Victory to Debut in Alaska in 2021". Travel Pulse.
  9. "Ferries". HMS Ferries Official website.
  10. "Seaward Services Awarded High-Speed Vessel Operations & Maintenance Contract". The Maritime Executive.
  11. "HMS Consulting Reveals Turmoil Within Massachusetts Steamship Authority". Consulting.us.