The many industries that make up the world of freight have undergone tremendous change over the past several decades. Each Friday, FreightWaves explores the archives of American Shipper’s nearly 70-year-old collection of shipping and maritime publications to showcase interesting freight stories of long ago.
The following is an excerpt from the October 1970 edition of the Florida Journal of Commerce.
The newly formed Hapag-LIoyd AG commenced their business activities on the first September 1970. The entry made in the register of companies finalized the merger of the Hamburg-Amerika Linie (Hapag) and the Norddeutscher Lloyd.
The Hapag-LIoyd flag will be flown by 114 ships with a total of more than 1 million tons gross. This will place the owners among the leading liner companies in the world. Hamburg and Bremen will be the dual seats of the head offices.
The trade routes regularly served by Hapag-LIoyd extend from Europe to Canada and the Great Lakes, the East and West coasts of the USA, the U.S.-Gulf, Mexico, the West Indies, the west coast of South America, North Brazil, the Canary Islands, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and the Far East. Altogether calls are made at 231 ports.
The new company has a staff of 11,500 of whom some 5,000 are sea-going personnel.
In Europe alone Hapag-LIoyd AG maintains 137 freight offices, with a total of over 400 worldwide. A closely interwoven network of their own travel agencies in many German cities arrange passenger bookings not only on the passenger liners Bremen and Europa as well as on the lines’ freighters, but has also proved itself in the national and international tourist business.
Hapag-LIoyd operates a fortnightly service to Miami where the line is represented by Albury & Company, agents, stevedores and terminal operators.
A dry dock owned by the line, a towage company and an insurance subsidiary, the Niedersachsen Versicherungs AG, complete the picture of activities of this new large undertaking.
After 123 years of Hapag history and 113 years of Lloyd history the first page of Hapag-LIoyd AG history will be written in 1970.
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