Moor Line
The British shipping company Moor Line Limited existed from 1897 to 1968. The company used its fleet in tramp shipping .
history
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In 1885, the captain Walter Runciman bought his first ship, the Dudley freight steamer . To finance the first new building, the Blakemoor , Runciman founded the South Shields Steam Shipping Company Limited in 1889 . In 1890 the owner company North Moor Steamships Company was founded to enable shareholders to invest according to the old 64-share system. In 1892 the shipping company moved from South Shields to Newcastle-on-Tyne and in April 1897 the South Shields Steam Shipping Company became Moor Line Ltd. renamed. In 1902 the Moor Line took over the Novocastrian Shipping Company and in 1905 the North Moor Steamships Company was incorporated. After heavy losses in the First World War and the waning of the brief post-war boom, the fleet of 13 units was sold in December 1919 to the Western Counties Shipping Company from Cardiff and the Moor Line Ltd dissolved in September 1920. As early as November 1920, Moor Line Ltd was re-established as a public company and in April 1922 acquired seven of the ships previously sold to Cardiff at a fraction of the previous price from the bankruptcy of the Western Counties Shipping Company. In 1930 the Moor Line was operating 23 tramp ships again. In 1934 the first two units of the Doxford Economy type were commissioned. When Anchor Line (Henderson Bros) Ltd went bankrupt in May 1935 as a result of the Great Depression and was dissolved, Runciman (London) Ltd entered the company with new capital and ran it with Lord Runciman as chairman of the newly established Anchor Line (1935 ) Ltd continues.
Numerous ships were lost in the Second World War and the shipping company had to rebuild its fleet in the 1950s. The falling freight rates from 1957 made it increasingly difficult to use conventional tramp ships to cover costs, and in 1962 the first bulk carriers were commissioned. In July 1965 the Moor Line took over the Anchor Line from United Molasses Co Ltd and in 1966 the Moor Line Ltd took over Walter Runciman & Co Ltd. The management of the company moved from Newcastle-on-Tyne to Glasgow. In 1968 Moor Line Ltd became Walter Runciman & Company Ltd. renamed and the ownership of the fleet to the newly founded Anchor Line Ship Management Ltd. transfer. The also newly founded Runciman Shipping Ltd. took over the management of the ships. The Runciman Group acquired the Leith- based Currie Line in 1969 and Anchor Line Ltd acquired George Gibson & Co Ltd. in 1972. from Leith. In 1976 the Runciman Group was restructured. The ownership of the ships remained with the Anchor Line Company Ltd., the Anchor Line Eastern Services Ltd. handled the Asian activities, Anchor Line Ship Management Ltd. operated the bulk carriers and the management of third-party tonnage, Currie Line Ltd. operated the European shipping warehouse and freight forwarding business, George Gibson & Co operated the gas tankers and Runciman Shipping Ltd. took over the administration of the group. The last sub-companies were dissolved in the 2000s and 2010s.
literature
- Norman L. Middlemiss: Travels of the Tramps. Twenty tramp fleets. 1st edition. Shield Publications, Newcastle-upon-Tyne 1989, ISBN 1-871128-02-1