 | |
| Industry | Shipping |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1914 |
| Defunct | 1982 |
| Fate | Elements merged into Cunard Line operations |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Australasia |
| Services | Refrigerated and general cargo & passengers; later containers |
Port Line was a passenger and cargo shipping company, initially formed as the Commonwealth and Dominion Line in 1914, and in operation in one form or another until 1982.
The Commonwealth and Dominion Line was formed as an amalgamation of four shipping companies on 23 January 1914, J. P. Corry & Company, Wm. Milburn & Company, Thos. B. Royden & Company and Tyser & Company. All four companies had operated routes to Australia and New Zealand, and together formed a new shipping line of 23 ships. Milburn & Co brought nine ships, Tyser & Co. eight, Corry & Co. five and Royden & Co. three. The company's head office was at Tyser & Company's former officers at 9-11 Fenchurch Street in London. The board of directors was drawn from the directors of the constituent companies and was under the overall chairmanship of Walter Tyser. Representing Thos. B. Royden & Co. was Thomas Royden, later chairman of Cunard.
Reflecting the make up of its constituting companies, the ships of the new line adopted a varied arrangement of existing styles. The ships flew Tyser's house flag but had Corry's funnel colours of buff with black tops. The overall scheme followed Tyser's patterns of grey with white superstructure and masts, while Milburn & Co's practice of naming ships with the prefix 'Port' was extended to new ships then under construction for the company, and then expanded further in 1916 by renaming all existing ships under this style. This practice led to the name 'Port Line' coming into unofficial use.
Commonwealth and Dominion was taken over by the Cunard Line in June 1916, at the initiative of Thomas Royden, who was already a director of Cunard. Several Cunard directors joined the board of Commonwealth and Dominion, now renamed Cunard Line Australasian Service, Commonwealth & Dominion Line Ltd, and in exchange several Commonwealth and Dominion directors joined Cunard's board. After the war the line took Cunard's funnel colours, but otherwise remained largely autonomous within the Cunard structure. There were a number of losses to enemy action and accidents during the remainder of the First World War, with ships also being requisitioned for government service during and immediately after the war. Several new ships were ordered to replace wartime losses and to modernise the fleet. The line was particularly active in transporting frozen meat and vegetables between Australia, New Zealand and Britain.
The company remained profitable during the Great Depression, and between 1927 and 1932 shipped steel girders from Middlesbrough for use in the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. In 1932 Commonwealth & Dominion moved their head offices to Cunard House at 88 Leadenhall Street in London, sharing space with the Cunard Line. Also in 1932 Commonwealth & Dominion entered partnership with two other shipping companies, Ellerman & Bucknall and the New Zealand Shipping Company, to form the Montreal, Australia & New Zealand Line, to take over the Canadian National Steamship Line's services to Australasia.
Commonwealth and Dominion officially re-branded itself 'Port Line Limited' on 18 November 1937. The company suffered a number of losses during the Second World War to a variety of causes, including accidents, submarines, surface raiders and air attacks. In total thirteen ships were sunk, and another building programme was begun after the war. Port Line entered another partnership in 1957, combining with the Blue Star Line, Shaw, Savill & Albion and the New Zealand Shipping Company, to form the Crusader Shipping Co. Ltd., to trade between New Zealand, the Far East and the Pacific coast of North America.
With containerisation increasing, Port Line, Blue Star Line, Ellerman, Ben Line and the Charente Steamship Company formed Associated Container Transportation Ltd. on 12 January 1966, incorporating a subsidiary, Associated Container Transportation (Australia) Ltd., which would eventually supersede the Montreal, Australia & New Zealand Line. However a process of retrenchment at Cunard in 1968 saw the incorporation of Blue Star Port Line (Management) Ltd, also known as 'Blueport', to cut costs.
The process continued with Cargo Equipment Service Co. Ltd. (CESCO) being formed in New Zealand to take over the equipment of Blueport, Shaw, Saville & Albion and the New Zealand Shipping Co., while in Australia the offices of Port Line and Blue Star were amalgamated with those of Ellerman & Bucknall to form Joint Cargo Services Ltd. New jointly operated shipping companies were created by the constituent companies to continue to operate shipping routes, including the Atlas Line and the Compass Line, which operated both Port Line and Blue Star Line ships. The Actanz Line was formed in 1969, consolidating all remaining conventional Port Line, Blue Star and Ellerman Lines ships under the title of Blue Star Port Lines (Management). Further management changes followed throughout the 1970s, with the fleets being steadily reduced in the face of containerization. Port Line withdrew from the now unprofitable Crusader Shipping in 1972, and in 1973 Joint Cargo Services Ltd was divided into two.
The joint cargo service operated by Port Line and Blue Star ceased to operate in 1974, and Blue Star Port Lines (Management) Ltd closed. The last remaining conventional cargo ships still owned by the group at this point were transferred to Cunard-Brocklebank's control, ending Port Line's existence as an autonomous business entity. The remaining fleet was steadily reduced, and Cunard took over the crewing of ships. The Port Line name was subsumed into Associated Container Transportation in 1978, the remaining ships were transferred or scrapped over the next few years until the last Port ships were transferred to the Brocklebank fleet in 1982, ending the last vestiges of the Port Line.
Two of Port Line's UK-Australia service freighters, both built in 1954, were later converted into cruise ships by 1974: the Port Sydney and the Port Melbourne , which became known as the Princess Daphne and the Princess Danaé , respectively. Uniquely, the Princess Daphne was the first cruise ship since 1959 in service between New Orleans and Cuba in 1977. The Princess Daphne was scrapped in Alang, India in 2014 while the Princess Danae" trades for a Portuguese company Portuscale Cruises and was renamed Lisboa .Princess Danae was broken up 1n 2015 at Aliaga, Turkey.
Cunard is a British shipping and cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its three ships have been registered in Hamilton, Bermuda.
The Merchant Navy is the maritime register of the United Kingdom and comprises the seagoing commercial interests of UK-registered ships and their crews. Merchant Navy vessels fly the Red Ensign and are regulated by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA). King George V bestowed the title of "Merchant Navy" on the British merchant shipping fleets following their service in the First World War; a number of other nations have since adopted the title. Previously it had been known as the Mercantile Marine or Merchant Service, although the term "Merchant Navy" was already informally used from the 19th century.
Carnival Corporation & plc is a British-American cruise operator with a combined fleet of over ninety vessels across nine cruise line brands and one joint venture with China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC). A dual-listed company, Carnival is composed of two companies – Panama-incorporated, US-headquartered Carnival Corporation, and UK-based Carnival plc – which function as one entity. Carnival Corporation is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, whereas Carnival plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange with an ADR listing on the NYSE. Carnival is listed in both the S&P 500 and FTSE 250 indices.
The White Star Line was a British shipping line. Founded out of the remains of a defunct packet company, it gradually rose up to become one of the most prominent shipping companies in the world, providing passenger and cargo services between the British Empire and the United States. While many other shipping lines focused primarily on speed, White Star branded their services by focusing more on providing comfortable passages for both upper class travellers and immigrants.
The Blue Star Line was a British passenger and cargo shipping company formed in 1911, being in operation until 1998.
The International Mercantile Marine Company, originally the International Navigation Company, was a trust formed in the early twentieth century as an attempt by J.P. Morgan to monopolize the shipping trade.
Ellerman Lines was a UK cargo and passenger shipping company that operated from the late nineteenth century and into the twentieth century. It was founded in the late 19th century, and continued to expand by acquiring smaller shipping lines until it became one of the largest shipping firms in the World. Setbacks occurred through heavy losses to its merchant fleet in the First and Second World Wars but were overcome in each case.
RMS Sylvania was an ocean liner built in 1957 by John Brown & Co (Clydebank), in Glasgow, for the United Kingdom-based shipping company Cunard Line. She was the last Cunard Line vessel built specifically for transatlantic crossings. The ship was later heavily rebuilt as a cruise ship, and sailed under the names SS Fairwind, SS Sitmar Fairwind, SS Dawn Princess and SS Albatros before being scrapped in 2004. She was renamed SS Genoa for her last voyage.
MS Cunard Princess was a cruise ship, previously owned an operated by the Israel-based Mano Maritime. She was built 1975 by the Burmeister & Wain shipyard in Copenhagen, Denmark for Cunard Line as MS Cunard Conquest, but her interior fittings were subsequently installed at the Navali Mechaniche Affini in La Spezia, Italy. Following re-delivery from Navali Mechaniche Affini in 1977 the ship was renamed MS Cunard Princess. In 1995, the ship entered service with StarLauro Cruises, briefly retaining her previous name before being renamed MS Rhapsody. In 2009 she was sold to Mano Maritime and sailed as Golden Iris until 2018. After being laid up for four years at Chalkis Shipyard, Greece. In 2021 was she renamed Gold Club. She was beached at Aliağa, Turkey, for recycling.
Lesbian was a 1,559 GRT cargo liner which was built by Thomas Royden & Sons Ltd., Liverpool. She was launched in 1874 and scrapped in 1903.
Yelkenci was a 7,052 GRT refrigerated cargo ship which was built in 1943 for the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) as Empire Camp. She was sold in 1946 and renamed Valacia. In 1951, she was sold and renamed New York City. A further sale in 1955 saw her renamed Loch Morar. A final sale to Turkish owners saw her renamed Yelkenci. She served with them until scrapped in 1971.
Thomas Royden and Sons was a shipbuilding company in Liverpool which operated from 1818 until 1893.
The Star Line was a fleet of ships owned by timber merchants, Messrs. James P Corry and Co Ltd. of Belfast, Ireland. The shipping company was formed by Robert Corry in 1826 to import timber from Canada to Ireland. The company began to diversify in 1859 when trade with Calcutta began and the company relocated its offices from Belfast to London. This was followed by services to Australia and New Zealand in 1888, South America in 1903 and a joint emigrant service to Australia with Royden and Tyser Lines started in 1912. The company became a constituent part of the Commonwealth & Dominion Line in 1914, which was renamed Port Line in 1937.
The Leyland Line was a British shipping transport line founded in 1873 by Frederick Richards Leyland after his apprenticeship in the firm of John Bibby, Sons & Co. After Frederick Leyland's death, the company was taken over by Sir John Ellerman in 1892. In 1902, the company was bought by the International Mercantile Marine Company and a portion of its fleet was withdrawn from service and transferred to the Ellerman Lines. The Company was liquidated in 1935 after a period of Declining influence due to the Great Depression.
SS Port Nicholson was a British refrigerated cargo ship owned by the Port Line. She entered service shortly after the First World War and was sunk by a German U-boat in the Second World War. Her wreck has subsequently been discovered, attracting attention with claims that she was carrying a large cargo of platinum ingots and other precious metals when she was sunk.
Sir Basil Smallpeice, was an English accountant and businessman, who served as a director of several companies, including the state owned airline British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), the shipping company Cunard and the mining based conglomerate Lonrho.
Williams & Kettle Limited with headquarters in Napier, New Zealand, owned a stock and station agency business and a general merchants business with branches throughout the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand. Incorporated as a co-operative in 1891, it had been founded in 1885 by landowner and businessman Frederic Williams (1854–1940) with Nathaniel Kettle (1854–1940), a brother-in-law of John Roberts the local principal of Dunedin's Murray Roberts and a former Murray Roberts & Co employee.