Industry | Transport |
---|---|
Founded | 1865 |
Defunct | 2000 |
Fate | Merged with NFC plc |
Successor | Exel plc |
Headquarters | London, UK |
Ocean Group plc was a major British transport business. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
The company was founded by Alfred Holt and Philip Holt, as the Ocean Steamship Company, to provide a steamship service known as the Blue Funnel Line , between the United Kingdom and China. [1] It was generally known as Holts and had a trademark blue funnel on its ships. [1] For many years it used Swire Group as it shipping agents. [1] In 1947, it formed Malayan Airways. [1]
It was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1965. [1]
In 1969, it joined forces with British & Commonwealth Holdings, Furness Withy, and P&O to form Overseas Containers Limited to exploit the introduction of containerization. [1]
In 1972, it acquired William Cory, a major shipping agent, and the following year, it changed its name to Ocean Transport & Trading. [1]
In 1986, it withdrew Overseas Containers Limited and in 1990 it renamed itself Ocean Group. [1]
A major restructuring exercise occurred in 1967 whereby all of the Ocean Steam Ship Company's fleet operations were divided amongst four companies, each of which answered to the main board of the Ocean Steam Ship Company. The four fleet operating companies were: -
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The British Merchant Navy is the collective name given to British civilian ships and their associated crews, including officers and ratings. In the UK, it is simply referred to as the Merchant Navy or MN. Merchant Navy vessels fly the Red Ensign and the ships and crew are regulated by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), a specialist agency of the UK Department of Transport. British merchant ships are registered under the UK or Red Ensign group ship registries. British Merchant Navy deck officers and ratings are certificated and trained according to STCW Convention and the syllabus of the Merchant Navy Training Board in maritime colleges and other training institutes around the UK.
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CP Ships was a large Canadian shipping company established in the 19th century. From the late 1880s until after World War II, the company was Canada's largest operator of Atlantic and Pacific steamships. Many immigrants travelled on CP ships from Europe to Canada. In 1914 the sinking of the Canadian Pacific steamship RMS Empress of Ireland just before World War I became largest maritime disaster in Canadian history. The company provided Canadian Merchant Navy vessels in World Wars I and II. Twelve vessels were lost due to enemy action in World War II, including the RMS Empress of Britain, which was the largest ship ever sunk by a German U-boat.
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Hamburg Südamerikanische Dampfschifffahrts-Gesellschaft A/S & Co KG, widely known as Hamburg Süd, was a German container shipping company. Founded in 1871, Hamburg Süd was among the market leaders in the North–South trade. It also served all significant East–West trade lanes.
Alfred Holt and Company, trading as Blue Funnel Line, was a UK shipping company that was founded in 1866 and operated merchant ships for 122 years. It was one of the UK's larger shipowning and operating companies, and as such had a significant role in the country's overseas trade and in the First and Second World Wars.
Overseas Containers Limited (OCL) was a container shipping company formed by a consortium of British shipping companies in 1965. It was taken over by P&O in 1986. It is not to be confused with Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL).
P Henderson & Company, also known as Paddy Henderson, was a ship owning and management company based in Glasgow, Scotland and operating to Burma. Patrick Henderson started business in Glasgow as a merchant at the age of 25 in 1834. He had three brothers. Two were merchants working for an agent in the Italian port of Leghorn; the third, George, was a sea captain with his own ship.
MS Antenor was a British bulk carrier, and the fifth of five ships to bear the name. She was built in 1972 at the Fujinagata Shipyards of the Mitsui Shipbuilding and Engineering Company in Osaka, Japan, for Alfred Holt and Company, who owned various shipping lines including the Ocean Steam Ship Company (OSSC) and Blue Funnel Line.
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Counties Ship Management Co. Ltd. (CSM) was an ocean-going merchant shipping company based in the United Kingdom. During the Second World War CSM merchant ships made a substantial contribution to supplying the British war effort, at a cost of 13 ships lost and 163 officers and men killed.
Killick Martin and Company Ltd is a privately owned global transport and logistics company with its head office in the United Kingdom. The company can trace its origins back to 1861 when it was founded by Captain James Killick and James Henry Martin. The company provides ocean freight, air freight, road freight, customs clearance, warehousing and supply chain management services. The company today has 5 offices in the United Kingdom and a global network of agencies. The ultimate parent company is Atlantic Pacific Group Ltd.
Sir Herbert Gladstone "Mac" McDavid CBE MSM (1898–1966) was from Liverpool, UK. He was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal in the First World War. He ultimately became chairman, managing director and partner of shipping companies, deputy director of sea transport in the UK Ministry of War Transport during the Second World War and was knighted for organising shipping during the Suez crisis in 1956.