History of Hapag-Lloyd...

**Ally** · 08-27-2006, 07:52 AM

Hapag-Lloyd AG came into being on September 1, 1970 as a result of the merger of the shipping lines Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft (Hamburg-America Line or Hapag), based in Hamburg, and Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL), based in Bremen. At the time of integration, these companies, founded in 1847 and 1857 respectively, had been active in ocean shipping for more than a century.

Shortly before the First World War, the liner service networks of Hapag and Lloyd grew to span the globe. During the First and Second World Wars, both companies lost their fleets, but were able to re-build and greatly expand once again in the postwar years. With the container shipping boom of the late 1960s, the two organizations merged to form Hapag-Lloyd AG in 1970. In 1997, the company became a wholly owned subsidiary of TUI AG, a European tourism industry leader.

The acquisition of CP Ships in 2005 placed Hapag-Lloyd among the top five biggest shipping companies in the world and greatly expanded its fleet and network.

CP Ships came into being in 1886 with the transportation of more than one million pounds of tea from Asia to Canada by the 800-tonne sailing ship WB Flint – the first ocean-going ship chartered by Canadian Pacific Railways. Serving the Trans Atlantic market since 1903, CP Ships has grown from a North Atlantic niche carrier to one of the world's top container carriers. CP Ships earned a reputation in its early days for the famous Canadian Pacific Empress class passenger liners.

From 1891 to 1970 a total of 17 Empress liners sailed the world's oceans, winning Canadian Pacific prestigious mail contracts on both Trans Atlantic and Trans Pacific routes. From 1922, when Canadian Pacific entered the cruise market, the Empress ships were considered the most luxurious of their time. The company adapted to containerisation early on.

In 1964, its first container ships were able to carry approximately 12 containers each. Modern-day CP Ships began in 1984 when Canadian Pacific co-founded Canada Maritime. CP Ships has grown by acquisition, with ten transactions since 1993 including Canada Maritime (1993), Lykes Lines (1997), and Italia Line (2002). In 2005 TUI AG of Germany acquired CP Ships, integrating the company into its own shipping subsidiary Hapag-Lloyd to create the world’s fifth-largest container shipping company.