Compañías navieras - Gran Bretaña: libros - historia

British India Steam Navigation Co Lines of the 1950's and 1960's

The British India Steam Navigation Company Limited, dating from 1862, was one of Britain's largest and most important shipping firms and has been owned by the even larger P&O since 1914. BI, as it was commonly called, created and maintained a great network of sea-going services - to Africa, India and the Middle East, and to the more distant Far East.

BI passenger ships in particular were important for the steady, uninterrupted flow of representatives and citizens of the Crown - from the likes of High Commissioners in first class to Indian workers in deck class. These were links in an age now gone completely.

William H. Miller, author of over eighty maritime books, reviews the final fleet, the last great era, in the 1950s and 1960s, of the British India Steam Navigation Company's passenger ships.

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Ellerman Lines - Remembering a Great British Shipping Company

Ellerman Lines was formed by John Reeves Ellerman at the end of the nineteenth century. Ellerman left home at age 14, and at 24 he established J. Ellerman & Co. in London; by 1893, he had been appointed chair of a shipping company. Following the acquisition of various companies, Ellerman Lines Ltd was formed on 22 January 1902, becoming one of the greatest shipping lines in the world.

Services were offered to the Mediterranean, India, South America and East and South Africa as the Ellerman group grew and grew. Ellerman Lines traded successfully throughout war and peace, heavily involved in the war effort, until the third quarter of the century, when many countries gained their independence from Britain and 1960s containerisation saw this once great shipping line close for good.

Using many previously unpublished photographs illustrating the different types of vessels owned by Ellerman Lines, experienced maritime author Ian Collard turns his attention to the company's history, from its establishment in 1886 until the shipping business was bought by its management in 1985.
It was then sold to the Trafalgar House conglomerate, which merged it with its ownership of the Cunard Line to form Cunard-Ellerman in 1987. In 1991 it passed to the Andrew Weir Shipping Group and in 2003 the Mediterranean, Middle East, African, Indian and Pakistan services were acquired by Hamburg Süd and the Ellerman brand was replaced by them exactly two years later.

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The Pacific Steam Navigation Company - Fleet List & History

Fundada en 1838 en Liverpool, la Pacific Steam Navigation Company fue la primera en operar barcos de vapor en el Pacífico y comerciaba principalmente entre el Reino Unido y las costas del Pacífico de Sudamérica. Entre sus barcos más famosos se encontraban el Reina del Pacífico y el Reina del Mar.

Con una trayectoria repleta de logros pioneros, la Pacific Steam Navigation Company desapareció en 1984 como parte de la reestructuración del Grupo Furness Withy. En 1990, Furness Withy fue vendida a Hamburg Süd, otra naviera que operaba en las rutas del Atlántico Sur y el Pacífico.

Muchos en Liverpool y en América del Sur y Central, desde Panamá hasta Tierra del Fuego, guardan gratos recuerdos de la Pacific Steam Navigation Company, y esta historia y lista de la flota les traerán a la memoria aquellos buques de la línea, tanto de alta mar como costeros, que alguna vez operaron en la ruta sudamericana.

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Union Castle Liners - from Great Britain to Africa 1946-1977

Era una de las rutas de transatlánticos británicos más importantes: el servicio exprés desde Southampton hasta el Cabo Sudafricano. Transportaba pasajeros y carga, incluido el importantísimo correo, y era sinónimo de viajes: «todos los jueves a las 4», cuando uno de los grandes transatlánticos de Union-Castle zarpaba hacia Ciudad del Cabo y más allá.

A finales de la década de 1950, entre estos buques de correo se encontraban el Arundel Castle, el Carnarvon Castle, el Winchester Castle, el Athlone Castle, el Stirling Castle, el Capetown Castle y dos éxitos de la posguerra: el Edinburgh Castle y el Pretoria Castle. En 1959 llegaron tres nuevos transatlánticos, los últimos grandes barcos construidos para Union-Castle: el Pendennis Castle, el Windsor Castle y el Transvaal Castle.

La ruta no se limitaba al Cabo, ya que Union-Castle también ofrecía un servicio a lo largo de la costa este de África y una ruta que daba la vuelta al continente. En 1977, al perderse el contrato de correo y los pasajeros frente a los aviones a reacción y la carga frente a los buques portacontenedores, el servicio cesó en octubre de ese año y Union-Castle dejó de existir.

William H. Miller narra la historia de los buques Union Castle de la posguerra.

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