HMS Global Maritime is a maritime conglomerate headquartered in

New Albany, Indiana New Albany is a city in Floyd County, Indiana, United States, situated along the Ohio River, opposite Louisville, Kentucky. The population was 37,841 as of the 2020 census. The city is the county seat of Floyd County. It is bounded by I-265 t ...

. 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 and Japan.

History

HMS Global Maritime was founded as Hornblower Marine Services in 1994 by former director of marine operations at Hornblower Cruises, John Waggoner. In 2018 the company was awarded Louisville Business First's "Business of the Year" award in the very large company category.

American Queen Steamboat Company

After the demise of Majestic America Line in 2008 and three years of sitting idle at the

Beaumont Reserve Fleet The Beaumont Reserve Fleet, was established by act of Congress in 1946, as a component of the National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF). The fleet is located in Beaumont, Texas. History In 1946, the US Government excavated 24 million cubic yards of s ...

in Beaumont, Texas, the then 16 year-old steamer

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 ...

was acquired by HMS Global Maritime in 2011 with the help of a $9 million loan from the city of

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

. Out of this acquisition, American Queen Steamboat Company was formed. The AQSC fleet currently consists of four river cruiseships: ''

'' (re-launched in 2012), ''

American Empress The ''American Empress'' is a steam-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 ...

'' (launched in 2014), ''

American Duchess ''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 iti ...

'' (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. 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 The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

. 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. In 2021, the line's upcoming third vessel, ''Ocean Victory'' is expected to completed and will sail Alaska.

HMS Ferries

HMS Ferries is a division of HMS Global that operates the following ferry vessels across the United States: * Channel Cat ( Quad Cities) * Gees Bend Ferry (Camden, AL and Gees Bend, AL) * Governor's Island Ferry (New York City, NY) * Mobile Bay Ferry (Mobile Bay, AL) * Oklahoma River Cruises (Oklahoma City, OK) * Pierce County Ferry (Steilacoom, WA, Anderson Island and

Ketron Island Ketron Island is an island and a census-designated place (CDP) in Pierce County, Washington, United States. The island had a population of 24 persons according to the 2000 census, and 17 persons at the 2010 census. Ketron Island is located in ...

) * RiverLink Ferry (Philadelphia, PA and Camden, NJ) * St. John's River Ferry (Jacksonville, FL)

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.

HMS Consulting

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

References

{{reflist American companies established in 1994 New Albany, Indiana