![APL container](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/APL_container.jpeg)
APL, formerly called American President Lines Ltd., is an American container shipping company that is a subsidiary of French shipping company
CMA CGM
CMA CGM S.A. is a French container transportation and shipping company. It is the world’s 3rd largest container shipping company, using 257 shipping routes between 420 ports in 160 countries. Its headquarters are in Marseille, France The name ...
. It operates an all-container ship fleet, including 9 U.S. flagged container vessels.
In 1938, the U.S. government took over the management of the Dollar Steamship Co., which was in financial difficulties and transferred their assets to the newly formed American President Lines.
In 1997, Singaporean shipping company
Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) acquired APL, eventually moving APL's headquarters to Singapore. In 2016,
CMA CGM
CMA CGM S.A. is a French container transportation and shipping company. It is the world’s 3rd largest container shipping company, using 257 shipping routes between 420 ports in 160 countries. Its headquarters are in Marseille, France The name ...
acquired NOL, including APL.
History
Pacific Mail Steamship Company
![SS California Poster Sharpened](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/SS_California_Poster_Sharpened.jpg)
Following the end of the
Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...
in 1848, the United States
West Coast of the United States
The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast, Pacific states, and the western seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous U.S ...
now extended from
Puget Sound
Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected ma ...
to
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...
. When the
29th United States Congress
The 29th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1845 ...
passed the Mail Steamer Bill (1847), mail delivery was authorized to be routed by ship from the
East Coast of the United States to the Pacific Coast via the
Isthmus of Panama, with two steamship routes operating: New York City to
Chagres
Chagres (), once the chief Atlantic port on the isthmus of Panama, is now an abandoned village at the historical site of Fort San Lorenzo ( es, Fuerte de San Lorenzo). The fort's ruins and the village site are located about west of Colón, on ...
,
Colombia on the Eastern side of the isthmus, and then a second route from
Panama City
Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is locat ...
, Colombia to
Astoria, Oregon. That same year,
William Henry Aspinwall
William Henry Aspinwall (December 16, 1807 – January 18, 1875) was a prominent American businessman who was a partner in the merchant firm of Howland & Aspinwall and was a co-founder of both the Pacific Mail Steamship Company and Panama Can ...
secured a 10-year government contract through Arnold Harris, with the
New York State Senate incorporating the
Pacific Mail Steamship Company
The Pacific Mail Steamship Company was founded April 18, 1848, as a joint stock company under the laws of the State of New York by a group of New York City merchants. Incorporators included William H. Aspinwall, Edwin Bartlett (American consul ...
with a capital of $400,000, of which Aspinwall was elected the first president. This company was to move the mail from
Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...
to the West Coast, being paid $199,000 per annum by the U.S. government. In January 1848, the company ordered three
mail steamer
Packet boats were medium-sized boats designed for domestic mail, passenger, and freight transportation in European countries and in North American rivers and canals, some of them steam driven. They were used extensively during the 18th and 19th ...
s from the
shipyard of
William Henry Webb: the SS ''California'', SS ''Panama'' and SS ''Oregon''. On October 5
[
] or October 6,
1848 the Pacific Mail's first of these
steamers, the SS ''California'', departed from New York City to run service from
Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...
to the West Coast, traveling around
Cape Horn
Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramí ...
to San Francisco—coincidentally, the
California Gold Rush began in January of that year, and the steamer—and its sisters, ''Oregon'' and ''Panama''—took on many hopeful miners en route.
Prior to founding Pacific Mail, Aspinwall had extensive experience in the shipping business as a partner in
Howland & Aspinwall Howland & Aspinwall was a merchant firm based in New York City in the 1830s and 1840s. It specialized in the Pacific Ocean trade, especially the importing of goods from China. It is best known for taking a pioneering role in the financing of cli ...
. Howland & Aspinwall operated some of the most famous
clipper ships
A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century merchant sailing vessel, designed for speed. Clippers were generally narrow for their length, small by later 19th century standards, could carry limited bulk freight, and had a large total sail area. "Cl ...
ever built. In 1845, while it already owned the ''Ann McKim'', which was regarded as the fastest ship afloat, the firm built the
''Rainbow'', which was even faster. The ''Rainbow'' is considered to be the first of the extreme clippers, which were the racehorses of the sea. The next year, the company had the
''Sea Witch'' built, which set a speed record from China to New York that still stands.
Clipper ship
A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century merchant sailing vessel, designed for speed. Clippers were generally narrow for their length, small by later 19th century standards, could carry limited bulk freight, and had a large total sail area. "Cl ...
s sacrificed cargo capacity for speed, but in some markets, the fast service allowed their owners to charge premium rates (e.g. tea from China tasted better if it was fresh, so the cargo on the first ship of the season to arrive in New York was worth more). Also, faster speed meant that the vessel could complete more voyages in a given time period, which compensated for the diminished cargo capacity.
When in 1850, the Pacific Mail Steamship Company established a competing line to the
U.S. Mail Steamship Company
U.S. Mail Steamship Company was a company formed in 1848 by George Law, Marshall Owen Roberts and Bowes R. McIlvaine to assume the contract to carry the U. S. mails from New York City, with stops in New Orleans and Havana, to the Isthmus of P ...
between
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
and
Chagres
Chagres (), once the chief Atlantic port on the isthmus of Panama, is now an abandoned village at the historical site of Fort San Lorenzo ( es, Fuerte de San Lorenzo). The fort's ruins and the village site are located about west of Colón, on ...
,
George Law placed an opposition Pacific Line of steamers (SS ''Antelope'', SS ''Columbus'', SS ''Isthmus'', SS ''Republic'') in the Pacific running from Panama City to San Francisco. In April 1851 the rivalry was ended when an agreement was made between the companies, the U.S. Mail Steamship Company purchased the Pacific Mail steamers on the Atlantic side (SS ''Crescent City'', SS ''Empire City'', SS ''Philadelphia''), and George Law sold his ships and new line to the Pacific Mail.
By 1850 Pacific Mail maintained a monopoly over the Panama-Oregon trade, helped by the purchase of two steamers from Empire City Line. Large numbers of prospective gold miners paying for passage to California had meant that by 1850, the capital of Pacific Mail had increased from $400,000 to over $2 million. Pacific Mail also ordered four new ships, designed to meet the needs of trade to and from California, and opened ship depots at Panama City and
Benicia, California. Aspinwall invested in the
Panama Railroad Company
The Panama Canal Railway ( es, Ferrocarril de Panamá) is a railway line linking the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean in Central America. The route stretches across the Isthmus of Panama from Colón (Atlantic) to Balboa (Pacific, near P ...
, which would replace old wagon trails across the Isthmus, cutting travel time from four days to four hours. In 1852 George Law went into partnership with Aspinwall and developed its eastern terminal next to the wharf at
Aspinwall, Columbia, then sold his interest in 1853. This line was completed in 1855, and coordination between steamships and this line meant the travel time from San Francisco to New York was cut to 21 days.
In 1856, Aspinwall retired from the position of president of the Pacific Mail Company, with the former secretary, William H. Davidge, taking the presidency. Under his control, the company's capital doubled, to $4 million, but the major turning point of his presidency of the company was in 1858, when Pacific Mail's contract with the government expired. At the same time, the contract of the U.S. Mail Steamship Company also expired. This company had been providing the ships for the New York to Panama route and went out of business in 1859. A through service was deemed necessary (and profitable), and the company bought three new ships: the SS ''Adriatic'', SS ''Atlantic'' and SS ''Baltic'', all of which had formerly belonged to
Collins Line
The Collins Line was the common name for the American shipping company started by Israel Collins and then built up by his son Edward Knight Collins, formally called the New York and Liverpool United States Mail Steamship Company. Under Edward C ...
. Competition from the other Atlantic steamship lines was fierce, however, and within a few years, the route on the Atlantic side was pulled.
During the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
(1861–65), Pacific Mail used its steamers to transport gold to the East Coast to support the Northern cause. The company also received the SS ''Colorado'', launched from the same shipyard as the SS ''California''. By the end of the war (1865), under the new presidency, Pacific Mail purchased its competitor, Atlantic Mail Steamship Company, which at this point was providing service from New York to the Isthmus. This in turn meant that, at last, Pacific Mail was able to provide complete service from New York to the West Coast via the Isthmus, without competition.
In 1866, the
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fe ...
awarded the first mail contract of $500,000 per annum between San Francisco and the Far East — namely
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
via Japan and the Sandwich Islands (later known as the
Hawaiian Islands)—to Pacific Mail. The SS ''Colorado'' was pulled from the original New York–San Francisco route to be used on the new route from San Francisco to China and Japan. The ''Colorado'' was outfitted with a
mizzen mast and more
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when ...
storage for the voyage, and in 1867, became the first steamship to run a regular service across the Pacific Ocean, running from San Francisco to
Yokohama
is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of T ...
, Japan and onward to Hong Kong. Pacific Mail also ordered four new ships to run on this route: the SS ''China'', SS ''Japan'', SS ''Great Republic'' and SS ''America.'' These ships were ordered at a cost of $1 million, and the capital of the company was increased to $20 million to cover this cost.
By 1867, the company was running four different lines:
#The ''Atlantic Line'', between New York and Aspinwall, Panama. This ran thrice monthly.
#The ''Pacific Line'', which linked with the ''Atlantic Line'', which ran between Panama and San Francisco, stopping at
Acapulco and
Manzanillo. This route also ran thrice monthly, except for the latter, which ran once monthly.
#The ''China Line'', between San Francisco and Hong Kong, stopping at Yokohama. This ran once monthly. This linked with the ''Pacific Line.''
#The ''Shanghai Line'', which ran between Yokohama and
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...
, via
Nagasaki
is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan.
It became the sole Nanban trade, port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hi ...
. This also ran once monthly, linking with the ''China Line''.
![SS Mongolia Fred Pansing Cropped](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/SS_Mongolia_Fred_Pansing_Cropped.jpg)
Through these links, freight could be moved from New York to Yokohama in 42 days, to Shanghai in 47 days and Hong Kong in 50 days, including all
detentions. In this same year, the company owned 25 ships, with a combined
tonnage
Tonnage is a measure of the cargo-carrying capacity of a ship, and is commonly used to assess fees on commercial shipping. The term derives from the taxation paid on ''tuns'' or casks of wine. In modern maritime usage, "tonnage" specifically r ...
of 61,474 tons.
In 1869, the completion of the
Transcontinental Railroad
A transcontinental railroad or transcontinental railway is contiguous railroad trackage, that crosses a continental land mass and has terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks can be via the tracks of either a single ...
meant that the passenger traffic on the Panama route declined. In 1872, the U.S. government doubled the subsidy on mail transported by Pacific Mail, although it required the doubling of service and the modernization of the fleet. Therefore, in 1873, Pacific Mail took delivery of the first of 11
iron
Iron () is a chemical element with Symbol (chemistry), symbol Fe (from la, Wikt:ferrum, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 element, group 8 of the periodic table. It is, Abundanc ...
–
hulled
Husk (or hull) in botany is the outer shell or coating of a seed. In the United States, the term husk often refers to the leafy outer covering of an ear of maize (corn) as it grows on the plant. Literally, a husk or hull includes the protective ...
,
screw-powered steamships, the ''City of Peking.'' In 1875, William Henry Aspinwall, died on January 18 at the age of 68, but Pacific Mail continued on, and soon began service to Australia and New Zealand.
During the 1880s Pacific Mail modernized its ships with
steel hulls, replacing the old iron vessels, and installed
electric lighting by
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventi ...
on the SS ''Columbia'', making it the first ship to have electrical power in the world. In 1893, the
Southern Pacific Co. acquired control over the Pacific Mail. In 1902, Pacific Mail launched the SS ''Korea'' and SS ''Siberia'', which were its first steel-hulled ships, followed by SS ''Manchuria'' and SS ''Mongolia'' in 1904. These ships were the largest and fastest passenger-freight ships in the Pacific, the latter two measuring more than 13,600 gross tons, larger than any other ship the company owned at the time.
In 1912, Congress banned ships owned by railroads from using the
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a condui ...
, and so Pacific Mail was sold to
W. R. Grace and Company
W. R. Grace and Co. is an American chemical business based in Columbia, Maryland. It produces specialty chemicals and specialty materials in two divisions: Grace Catalysts Technologies, which makes catalysts and related products and technologies ...
, where it operated as a subsidiary from 1916 till 1925, when the company's trans-Pacific fleet was bought over by the Dollar Shipping Company for $5,625,000 in cash.
Dollar Shipping Company
Meanwhile, Captain
Robert Dollar
Robert Dollar, also known as Captain Robert Dollar (1844–1932), was a Scots-American industrialist born in Bainsford, Falkirk, Scotland. The title "Captain" was honorary and he was called the "Grand Old Man of the Pacific". Both were bestowed ...
purchased his first ship, marking the beginning of his shipping empire. Dollar was born in
Falkirk, Scotland in 1844, moving to Canada at the age of 11, where he worked in a
lumber camp
A logging camp (or lumber camp) is a transitory work site used in the logging industry. Before the second half of the 20th century, these camps were the primary place where lumberjacks would live and work to fell trees in a particular area. Many ...
. Following this, in 1893, he purchased his own sawmill on the Pacific Coast. Due to unreliable shipping timetables, he found it hard to ship his
lumber
Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...
from the
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Tho ...
down the coast towards California. Hence, in 1893
Dollar bought a steam
schooner called ''Newsboy''. This led to the establishment of the Dollar Steamship Company (commonly known as "Dollar Line") on August 12, 1900, which soon grew to have a large fleet of schooners transporting lumber to market.
![StateLibQld 1 140619 Mae Dollar (ship)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/StateLibQld_1_140619_Mae_Dollar_%28ship%29.jpg)
In 1902, Dollar sailed to Asia for the first time on a Pacific Mail ship, SS ''China'', to prospect potential lumber markets on the other side of the Pacific. He began to acquire a number of ships, and began his trans-Pacific shipping with a
chartered voyage to Yokohama, Japan and the Philippines, marking his entry into international shipping. During World War I, Dollar ordered the construction of $30 million worth of ships in China, and in 1923 bought seven "502 President Type"
liners
"Liners" is a horticultural term referring to very young plants, usually grown for sale to retailers or wholesalers, who then grow them to a larger size before selling them to consumers. Liners are usually grown from seed, but may also be grown ...
from the
U.S. Shipping Board
The United States Shipping Board (USSB) was established as an emergency agency by the 1916 Shipping Act (39 Stat. 729), on September 7, 1916. The United States Shipping Board's task was to increase the number of US ships supporting the World War ...
, pioneering his round-the-world service, marked by the departure of on January 5, 1924. These were all named after
U.S. presidents, a tradition that Dollar Shipping continued until its end.
![StateLibQld 1 148735 Janet Dollar (ship)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/StateLibQld_1_148735_Janet_Dollar_%28ship%29.jpg)
This was followed up in 1925 by the purchase of eight more "535 President Type" liners from the Shipping Board, which had previously been run by Pacific Mail. Dollar Shipping bid much lower than Pacific Mail for the ships—on the order of $1 million—but Pacific Mail's offer included stocks as well as cash. Thus, the Shipping Board declared that Pacific Mail was unable to meet the terms of tender, and awarded $30 million worth of ships to Dollar Shipping. This naturally caused troubles for Pacific Mail, and it was taken over by Dollar Shipping the same year, although Dollar had ordered his sons to begin buying stock of the company in 1920. In 1922 the Dollar Line also acquired the Admiral Oriental Line and renamed it the American Mail Line, making Dollar one of the most profitable shipping companies in the world.
Dollar Line continued expanding its business in the late 1920s, buying five more "535 President Type" ships in 1926. In that year, Dollar Line carried over 45,000 passengers and had a gross revenue of $6 million. Dollar encouraged others to invest in Asia with his booklet, "Have You Investigated the Oriental Market for Your Product?", helping to open up Asia to 20th-century industry. The
Merchant Marine Act of 1928 (also known as the Jones–White act) also helped Dollar Line, allowing it to sign a lucrative new mail contract and requiring it to build new ships to meet demand.
On October 26, 1929, just as the
Wall Street Crash of 1929
The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange coll ...
was beginning, Dollar Steamship Line (renamed that same year) ordered two steam
turbo-electric
A turbo-electric transmission uses electric generators to convert the mechanical energy of a turbine (steam or gas) into electric energy, which then powers electric motors and converts back into mechanical energy that power the driveshafts.
Tu ...
ocean liners—the largest yet built for a US shipping company. was completed in 1930 and was completed in 1931. They were state-of-the-art, luxurious
sister ships rivaling the best hotels of the era, but by then the
Great Depression had deepened and the ships carried only half their capacity on their maiden voyages.
On May 16, 1932, Robert Dollar died at the age of 88 and was succeeded by his son, Robert Stanley Dollar. The company began a steady decline. The faltering Dollar companies were now faced with sharply increased operating costs. In December 1937 ''President Hoover'' ran aground off the east coast of
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
, and was written off as a
constructive total loss
Marine insurance covers the physical loss or damage of ships, cargo, terminals, and any transport by which the property is transferred, acquired, or held between the points of origin and the final destination. Cargo insurance is the sub-branch o ...
. By 1938 The company was $7 million in debt, with interest increasing this by $80,000 per day. In June 1938 ''President Coolidge'' was arrested (seized under admiralty law) in San Francisco for a £35,000 unpaid debt.
American President Lines
![Flag of American President Lines (1938)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Flag_of_American_President_Lines_%281938%29.svg)
In August 1938, the
United States Maritime Commission
The United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 195 ...
judged the Dollar Shipping Company unsound and assumed control over it, appointing
William Gibbs McAdoo
William Gibbs McAdoo Jr.McAdoo is variously differentiated from family members of the same name:
* Dr. William Gibbs McAdoo (1820–1894) – sometimes called "I" or "Senior"
* William Gibbs McAdoo (1863–1941) – sometimes called "II" or "Ju ...
to succeed R. Stanley Dollar and Joseph R. Sheehan as the new president of the line. The first item of business was an amendment to the corporate charter, renaming the line as "American President Lines".
American Mail Line was also sold to tobacco magnate Richard J. Reynolds and reorganized as an independent company. With that the Dollar Steamship, a long potent force in American shipping, became part of maritime history.
By 1940, the U.S. government had commissioned 16 new ships for APL, continuing the "president" naming of ships, one of these examples being SS ''President Jackson'', a C-3 class merchant vessel. In 1941, the U.S. entered World War II, and in 1942 the War Shipping Administration was created, of which APL was an agent. APL worked on the management of some of the Administration's ships, maintaining and overhauling them as well as crewing them and being responsible for the handling of cargo and passengers. APL's own ships were used, in addition to the many
Liberty
Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom.
In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...
and
Victory
The term victory (from Latin ''victoria'') originally applied to warfare, and denotes success achieved in personal combat, after military operations in general or, by extension, in any competition. Success in a military campaign constitutes ...
ships that were built. In 1944, an additional 16 ships were built specifically for APL, including SS ''President Buchanan'', a Victory class vessel. At the end of the war in 1945, the company's assets were valued at $40 million.
[
]
One of the APL ships in World War II still survives. SS ''
Lane Victory'' is a
Victory ship
The Victory ship was a class of cargo ship produced in large numbers by North American shipyards during World War II to replace losses caused by German submarines. They were a more modern design compared to the earlier Liberty ship, were sli ...
that is preserved as a
museum ship in the
San Pedro area of
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
. As a rare surviving Victory ship, she is a U.S.
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
. The ''Lane Victory'' was built by the
California Shipbuilding Corporation
__NOTOC__
California Shipbuilding Corporation built 467 Liberty and Victory ships during World War II, including ''Haskell''-class attack transports. California Shipbuilding Corporation was often referred to as Calship. The ''Dictionary of Ame ...
in
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
and launched on 31 May 1945.
In 1945, R. Stanley Dollar, son of Robert Dollar, initiated court proceedings in the form of the Dollar case, in an attempt to force the return of the company from the government to his family. This case would last seven years, with the government continuing the operation of APL in the meantime. APL restarted its round-the-world passenger service, and launched the and ''
SS President Wilson
SS ''President Wilson'' was an American passenger ship originally ordered by the Maritime Commission (MC hull 687) during World War II, as one of the ''Admiral W. S. Benson''-class Type P2-SE2-R1 transport ships, and intended to be named USS ''Ad ...
'' the next year, which were advertised as "your American hotel abroad." In the 1950s, the company again expanded, building more ships; 11 were built between 1952 and 1954. These included C-4 class cargo ships. Also, a settlement was finally reached in the Dollar case. Rather than the Dollar family taking back the company, it was sold to a group of investors led by Ralph K. Davies for $18.3 million.
At this time Davies also acquired control of American Mail Line with the aim of reintegrating it into APL.
In 1958, the company began investigating the possibility of
containerization
Containerization is a system of intermodal freight transport using intermodal containers (also called shipping containers and ISO containers). Containerization is also referred as "Container Stuffing" or "Container Loading", which is the p ...
, and sent research teams into 28 major ports. Following their reports, Davies began integrating containers into the company's business. By 1961, the company had begun launching ships capable of container transport, the first two of these being the combination break-bulk - container vessels SS ''President Tyler'' and SS ''President Lincoln''. Ports also began adapting to the new container-based system, although many potential customers were still wary. By the end of the decade, the company was still launching combination ships rather than fully cellular
container ships
A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermoda ...
as already employed by several U.S., British, European and Japanese lines, yet by 1969, 23% of the company's business moved via container.
![APLcontainer](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/APLcontainer.jpg)
The increasing use of air travel meant that the company's passenger services had steadily been declining throughout the 1960s, and by 1973, the last APL liner, the SS ''President Wilson'', completed her final round-the-world trip and was sold off. Also in 1973, American Mail Line was fully absorbed into APL, and its ships were subsequently given traditional "President" names. By 1971, the use of containers had again increased; 58% of the company's business moved via container. During the early 1970s, the company converted many of its traditional break-bulk freight and combination ships into more efficient container-only ships, and ordered four new-built container ships. In 1977, however, the line pulled back from worldwide freight service to focus on purely trans-Pacific routes. In 1978, the company began work on the concept of seamless integrated
intermodal service in the U.S. market: the idea of moving containerized goods via ship, train and truck under one company identity. By 1979, APL started the LinerTrain,
[
] a direct rail land-bridge service transporting containers from Los Angeles to New York using its own rail cars, leading to the most reliable delivery of containers of the time. At the same time, the company built its three largest vessels to date: three C-9 class diesel-powered container ships, the first of which was the ''President Lincoln''.
In 1984, the company started
StackTrain service,
[
] an idea following on from the successful LinerTrain venture. This involved using
double-stack rail cars that could carry containers stacked one on top of another rather than carrying just a single level of containers. Each rail car had a well that held the bottom container, thereby lowering the two stacked containers to reduce their combined height to fit within rail line clearances, hence the common name for double stack cars: "well cars." Double-stacking containers in well cars was developed in the late 1970s and first deployed in 1981, but APL was the first shipping line to fully embrace and exploit the concept. APL's cars were developed and manufactured by
Thrall Car, while line-haul rail service was initially provided by the
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...
and
Chicago and North Western Railway
The Chicago and North Western was a Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states befor ...
, and eventually by
Conrail once track clearances were enlarged.
Double-stacking containers greatly improved operating efficiency by reducing train length and the number of axles per container, thus saving fuel per ton-mile. Another benefit was created by permanently joining five cars in a set. This reduced the number of couplers, which reduced
slack action. Slack is created in any train by the couplers between the cars being stretched and compressed, and in long, heavy trains this can be quite a powerful force. By reducing slack action, the damage caused to the freight transported in containers is also reduced.
At the same time, the company continued to modernize its fleet, with ever-larger and faster ships, all of which were outfitted for container transport. APL also started a door-to-door service, known as the Red Eagle service. Another initiative was to introduce larger container sizes: containers in 1982, containers in 1985 and containers in 1988. Also in 1988, the company developed post-
Panamax vessels, those too large to transit the Panama Canal. These ships were long and wide, with the ability to carry 4,300
TEUs, a TEU being an arbitrary container unit long. All these developments led APL to be declared an industry leader in 1989, with the award of the "Admiral of the Ocean Sea Award" by the United Seamen's Service to the president, W. Bruce Seaton.
The 1990s were a period of continued growth for APL. It still clung to the tradition of naming ships after U.S. presidents, and it had a fleet of 20 fully containerized ships at this point with a combined capacity of 20,000 TEUs. In 1990, APL had a special request for
Union Pacific 3985
Union Pacific 3985, also known as the "Challenger", is a four-cylinder simple articulated 4-6-6-4 "Challenger"-type steam locomotive built in July 1943 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) of Schenectady, New York, for the Union Pacific Ra ...
to pull a 143-car doublestack train between
Cheyenne, Wyoming
Cheyenne ( or ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming, as well as the county seat of Laramie County, Wyoming, Laramie County, with 65,132 residents, per the 2020 US Census. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne ...
and
North Platte, Nebraska
North Platte is a city in and the county seat of Lincoln County, Nebraska, United States. It is located in the west-central part of the state, along Interstate 80, at the confluence of the North and South Platte Rivers forming the Platte River. T ...
. In 1991, APL started stack train service from
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
to Mexico, serving
Chrysler auto plants, as well as providing general service. The company also invested heavily in
information technology
Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of Data (computing), data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information te ...
, using this to keep track of its ever-growing fleet of trains, containers and ships. This has been continually upgraded ever since.
In 1993, the company continued to increase its revenues, and entered a 30-year agreement with the
Port of Los Angeles to open a new terminal, at a cost of $70 million. The next year, it almost doubled the size of its
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
terminal as well, increasing it from to 160. The company became the first shipper to open a
website
A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Wi ...
in 1995, and offered online shipment transactions. In 1997, the company was bought by
Neptune Orient Lines for $285 million, at a cost of $33.50 per share.
In 1998, the APL vessel APL CHINA encountered a storm south of the Aleutian Islands. The losses to the cargo, with 388 containers going overboard and many others damaged as well as damage to the ship, initiated $50 million in lawsuit claims against APL. This may have been the largest maritime shipping loss in history.
In 1999, the stack train franchise was sold off to Pacer, and is now known as Pacer Stacktrain. In the new millennium, the company's business began to falter. In 2001, parent company NOL reported losses of $57 million, followed by an amazing loss of $330 million in 2002. At this same time, APL's sales dropped from $3.8 billion in 2000 to $3.4 billion in 2002. Acting CEO Ron Widdows began a campaign of cost cutting and sped up decision making, and since 2003, the company has been making money again. In 2005, the company introduced the "Real-Time Locating System" using
RFID tags
Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder, a radio receiver and transmitter. When triggered by an electromagn ...
, which accurately recorded the position of every container within the system, reducing delays and lost containers—APL's Global Gateway South terminal in Los Angeles now moves 1.65 million TEUs annually.
In 2009, APL and other Neptune Orient business moved to a new headquarters in
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
. Previously, APL had been based in
Oakland, California
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...
.
On June 10, 2016, APL and NOL became subsidiaries of
CMA-CGM
CMA CGM S.A. is a French container transportation and shipping company. It is the world’s 3rd largest container shipping company, using 257 shipping routes between 420 ports in 160 countries. Its headquarters are in Marseille, France The name ...
when over 90% of Singapore stocks were purchased by the container line. Later that year, CMA CGM subsidiary U.S. Lines as well as the transpacific business of ANL was consolidated into APL.
In November 2016, the Hong Kong
Customs and Excise Department seized a shipment of nine
Terrex
The Terrex Infantry Carrier Vehicle (ICV) is an armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) developed by ST Engineering of Singapore and Timoney Technology of Ireland, and produced by ST Engineering Land Systems (a corporate subsidiary of ST Engineering) ...
APC vehicles, along with other equipment, belonging to the Singapore Armed Forces at the
Kwai Tsing Container Terminal
Kwai Tsing Container Terminals is the main port facilities in the reclamation along Rambler Channel between Kwai Chung and Tsing Yi Island, Hong Kong. It evolved from four berths of Kwai Chung Container Port () completed in the 1970s. It later ...
(formerly Kwai Chung Container Terminal). The shipment was seized because APL, which had been engaged by the Singapore military to handle the shipment, did not have the appropriate permits for the vehicles and equipment. In January 2017, it was announced that Hong Kong Customs would be returning the military equipment to Singapore, and that APL would be working with the Hong Kong authorities to ship the vehicles and related equipment back to Singapore. Commissioner of the
Customs and Excise Department, Roy Tang Yun-kwong, added that APL would likely face criminal charges for breaching Hong Kong Law in this incident.
In January 2017, container ship APL Denver collided with
Wan Hai 301, a ship belonging to Singapore, off Pasir Gudang Port in Johor, Malaysia. The accident occurred because APL Denver had crossed the path of Wan Hai 301 while it was moving through the separation scheme. APL Denver was heavily damaged, with at least 300 tonnes of oil spilled into the water near Pasir Gudang Port.
Since October 2020, APL has focused exclusively on U.S. Government business - leaving CMA CGM as the sole brand in the transpacific.
Terminals
APL operates marine terminals at ten strategic points around the world.
*Americas –
Dutch Harbor
Dutch Harbor is a harbor on Amaknak Island in Unalaska, Alaska. It was the location of the Battle of Dutch Harbor in June 1942, and was one of the few sites in the United States to be subjected to aerial bombardment by a foreign power during ...
(
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...
)
*Asia –
Kaohsiung (
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
),
Kobe (Japan),
Yokohama
is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of T ...
(Japan),
Ho Chi Minh City (
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
),
Laem Chabang
Laem Chabang ( th, แหลมฉบัง, ) is a port city municipality ('' thesaban nakhon'') in Si Racha and Bang Lamung districts of Chonburi Province, Thailand. It includes Thung Sukhla subdistrict (''tambon'') and parts of subdistricts Bu ...
(
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
),
Qingdao (China),
Nhava Sheva
Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) or JLN Port, also known as Nhava Sheva Port, is the second largest container port in India after Mundra Port. Located in Navi Mumbai's Raigad district, this port on the Arabian Sea is accessed via Thane Cree ...
(India)
Fleet
See also
*
List of largest container shipping companies
Several shipping lines are involved in intermodal freight transport as part of international trade.
List of largest container shipping companies
This is a list of the 30 largest container shipping companies as of 11 August 2022, according to '' ...
References
External links
*
NOL Group website (includes reports and financial information)
SS ''Jeremiah O'Brien'' - Liberty Ship websiteSS ''Lane Victory'' - Victory Ship websiteGuide to the American President Lines Records, 1871–1995GG Archives
GG Archives
{{Authority control
Container shipping companies
Defunct cruise lines
Temasek Holdings
2016 mergers and acquisitions
1997 mergers and acquisitions