Moore-McCormack

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Moore-McCormack was an American liner shipping company that existed from 1913 to 1992 .

history

Early years

The company began on July 9, 1913 when founders Albert V. Moore from Hackensack, New Jersey and Emmet J. McCormack from Brooklyn, New York founded the Moore & McCormack Company, Incorporated in New York. On January 16, 1921, Moore & McCormack opened a new line service between Philadelphia, Cork, Dublin and Londonderry. From 1926 Moore & McCormack operated the American Republics Line with eleven steamships and the motor ship Tampa . In the following year, Moore & McCormack took over the American Scantic Line , which was the first US line to enter into agreements with foreign competitors in order to obtain fixed cargo shares. From 1928 she incorporated Leningrad into her regular service and on April 17, 1929 a contract was signed to call at Gdynia as well. This played an important role in expanding the port for Poland.

1930s

In August 1932, Moore & McCormack took over the American Republics Line with its US, South Atlantic and South America line services from government hands. Six years later, Moore & McCormack took over the operation of the three Panama liner passenger ships California , Pennsylvania , and Virginia , which until then had been operated by the Panama Pacific Line, as well as a further ten freighters of the American Republics Line, which were previously managed by CH Sprague & Sons . In connection with this, Moore & McCormack, Incorporated changed its name to Moore-McCormack Lines on September 8, 1938. On October 4, 1938, the scheduled passenger ships Argentina , Brazil , and Uruguay were taken over, four days later the operation of the trios known as " Good Neighbor Fleet " began under the charter of the United States Maritime Commission . From January 1, 1939 Moore-McCormack operated the American Republic Lines on his own account. In addition to the passenger ships, the South American lines were served by a further six cargo ships, which were characterized by numerous innovations such as cargo tanks, compact (clip-on) cargo cooling devices or controlled cargo ventilation.

Second World War

In 1940, the shipping company reached an agreement with the United States Maritime Commission in which it took over the Pacific Republics Line, which was also engaged in South and Central America service. In November 1940, the Moore McCormack ship Rio Hudson was the first merchant ship in the US fleet to be blessed at its christening . Bishop Francis M. Taitt of the Protestant Diocese of Pennsylvania gave the blessing at the Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Company shipyard in Chester.

post war period

Moore-McCormack Lines opened a four-continent service under the US flag in 1957 after acquiring Robin Line. Robin Line, founded in 1935, operated freight services from the US Atlantic ports to South and East Africa.

In the late 1950s, the shipping company put two new passenger ships in service with the traditional names Argentina and Brasil , which could now also be used for cruises. They were the first ships to fly the American flag with fin stabilizers . During these years, the shipping company played a pioneering role in the use of hydraulic loading equipment, such as side ports, cargo handling systems and hydraulic hatch covers . Other noteworthy features of the ships with a speed of 23 knots were fresh water generators and individually controllable air conditioning.

1960s to 1970s

At the beginning of the 1960s, Moore-McCormack Lines launched the "1624", a seaworthy ship type for the Great Lakes voyage, and in November 1962 took the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp into its service on the Scantic Line.

In the mid-1960s, the shipping company began to expand its business and introduced new types of ships. The 21 knot fast general cargo ships of the Constellation class had an innovative load compartment division with numerous hatch partitions and heavy lift gear , with which liquid, pulverized, heavy and refrigerated cargo could be transported in addition to conventional dry cargo. From 1965 Moore-McCormack brought out a type of Ro-Ro ship that was tailor-made for the Africa and South America voyage, which could be adapted to the needs of the trade area with numerous hatches and cargo facilities and could also be used for military purposes. Depending on the load volume, rolling loads, containers, as well as general and heavy goods of various types could be transported.

In February 1966 (two months before the shipping company Sea-Land ) Moore-McCormack opened the first transatlantic container service, but suffered such high losses due to the high handling fees in Europe that the company ran into economic difficulties. In 1966 Moore-McCormack sold his Strait of Magellan Line to the Grace Line and gave up his North Atlantic container service in 1970. That same year, despite the sale of four ships to the American Export Line , the shipping company closed with a loss of $ 17 million and was on the verge of collapse. In February 1971, James R. Barker became President of the Company. Under his leadership, around 20 older ships were initially sold, including the passenger ships Argentina and Brasil , which had been launched on the Holland-America line since 1969 . The more profitable lines to South America and Africa were now continued with the more modern units and from 1972 the shipping company stabilized again. The diversification of Moore-McCormack into energy and raw materials companies, which began in the mid-1960s, was advanced. Among other things, the mining company Pickands, Mather, and Company, a supplier to the steel industry, was acquired in April 1973. Pickands, Mather, and Company also operated the Great Lakes bulk shipping company Interlake Steamship Company.

Crisis and end

After a series of failures in the energy and shipping business, Moore-McCormack again accumulated large losses from 1981, whereupon Barker initially sold the stake in the energy industry. Malcom McLean , who had meanwhile taken over the United States Lines , took over Moore-McCormack in December 1982 in order to convert their services to South America and Africa to containers. In 1985, the United States Lines also took over the shipping company Delta Lines from Crowley Maritime, which operated in similar shipping areas, but had to file for bankruptcy in 1986 due to the rapid growth. All liner services were given up by 1989 and the shipping company was finally dissolved in 1992.

Web links