Port Line (Est. 1914)


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Port Line was formed in 1914 with 23 ships contributed by J.P. Corry & Co., Wm Milburn & Co., Thos. B. Royden & Co., and Tyser & Co. to operate services to Australia and New Zealand. In 1916 the share capital of the company was purchased by Cunard and after the war, their ships' funnels were painted in Cunard colours. Apart from this, the company operated as a separate entity from the parent company. The Montreal, Australia & New Zealand Line (M.A.N.Z) was formed in 1936 with equal thirds held by C & D Line, Ellerman & Bucknall and New Zealand Shipping Co to take over the Canadian National Line's Australian service.

In Nov.1937 the official name of the company became Port Line Ltd and in 1957 the company became a fourth equal partner with Blue Star Line, New Zealand Shipping Company and Shaw Savill & Albion Line in Crusader Shipping Ltd to trade between New Zealand, the Far East and Pacific Coast of North America. The Port Line joined a consortium named Associated Container Transportation Ltd in 1966 and this gradually started the run down and replacement of the MANZ Line which ended in 1969.

In 1968 Cunard-Brocklebank Ltd was created to pool the cargo services of the two companies. In 1970 the activities of Cunard Line's subsidiary companies (Cunard-Brocklebank, Port Line, Moss Tankers and Offshore Marine) were coordinated by the formation of Cunard Cargo Shipping Services Ltd. At this time there was still a need for cargo shipping and this company focussed on this trade. By the early 1970s container shipping was taking over the cargo business and gradually Cunard Line's cargo subsidiaries were discontinued. In 1972, the parent company, Cunard Line was taken over by Trafalgar House Investments Ltd.

By 1978 Port Line had become an integral part of the Cunard Line Group and in 1982 the last two Port Line ships were transferred to the Brocklebank Line. Thus Port Line was no more and ceased to exist.

Thus Port Line was another fine British shipping company that disappeared as a result of the container revolution in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It was the end of an era as traditional shipping gave way to containerisation.

Cunard Line
www.cunard.co.uk

 


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