American President Lines history

Large numbers of prospective gold miners paying for passage to California had meant that by 1850, the capital of Pacific Mail had increased from $400,000 to over $2 million.

In April 1851 the rivalry was ended when an agreement was made between the companies, the United States Mail Steamship Company purchased the Pacific Mail steamers on the Atlantic side (SS Crescent City, SS Empire City, SS Philadelphia), and George Law sold his ships and new line to the Pacific Mail.

In 1856, Aspinwall retired from the position of president of the Pacific Mail Company, with the former secretary, William H. Davidge, taking the presidency.

Under his control, the company's capital doubled, to $4 million, but the major turning point of his presidency of the company was in 1858, when Pacific Mail's contract with the government expired.

During the American Civil War (1861–65), Pacific Mail used its steamers to transport gold to the East Coast to support the Northern cause.

By the end of the war (1865), under the new presidency, Pacific Mail purchased its competitor, Atlantic Mail Steamship Company, which at this point was providing service from New York to the Isthmus.

In 1866, the Federal government of the United States awarded the first mail contract of $500,000 per annum between San Francisco and the Far East — namely Hong Kong via Japan and the Sandwich Islands (later known as the Hawaiian Islands)—to Pacific Mail.

In 1867 it began the first regular shipping service between the United States and Asia, carrying passengers, cargo, and mail between the western United States, China, and Japan.

In 1872, the United States government doubled the subsidy on mail transported by Pacific Mail, although it required the doubling of service and the modernization of the fleet.

In 1872, the United States government doubled the subsidy on mail transported by Pacific Mail, although it required the doubling of service and the modernization of the fleet. Therefore, in 1873, Pacific Mail took delivery of the first of 11 iron–hulled, screw-powered steamships, the City of Peking.

In 1875, William Henry Aspinwall, died on January 18 at the age of 68, but Pacific Mail continued on, and soon began service to Australia and New Zealand.

In 1893, the Southern Pacific Co. acquired control over the Pacific Mail.

In 1902, Dollar sailed to Asia for the first time on a Pacific Mail ship, SS China, to prospect potential lumber markets on the other side of the Pacific.

In 1922 the Dollar Line also acquired the Admiral Oriental Line and renamed it the American Mail Line, making Dollar one of the most profitable shipping companies in the world.

The Merchant Marine Act of 1928 (also known as the Jones–White act) also helped Dollar Line, allowing it to sign a lucrative new mail contract and requiring it to build new ships to meet demand.

On October 26, 1929, just as the Wall Street Crash of 1929 was beginning, Dollar Steamship Line (renamed that same year) ordered two 21,936-gross register ton (GRT) steam turbo-electric ocean liners—the largest yet built for a US shipping company.

On May 16, 1932 Robert Dollar died at the age of 88 and was succeeded by his son, Robert Stanley Dollar.

In 1938 the Federal Maritime Commission arranged a subsidy to keep the company solvent; later that year, the Commission released the company from its debt in return for 90 percent of the Dollar Steamship Lines’ common stock.

By 1940, the United States government had commissioned 16 new ships for APL, continuing the "president" naming of ships, one of these examples being SS President Jackson, a C-3 class merchant vessel.

In 1944, an additional 16 ships were built specifically for APL, including SS President Buchanan, a Victory class vessel.

The Lane Victory was built by the California Shipbuilding Corporation in Los Angeles, California and launched on 31 May 1945.

The company had recently launched its efforts in intermodal shipping, when it acquired more than 1,000 small shipping containers in 1951.

In 1958, the company began investigating the possibility of containerization, and sent research teams into 28 major ports.

By 1961, the company had begun launching ships capable of container transport, the first two of these being the combination break-bulk - container vessels SS President Tyler and SS President Lincoln.

By the end of the decade, the company was still launching combination ships rather than fully cellular container ships as already employed by several United States, British, European and Japanese lines, yet by 1969, 23% of the company's business moved via container.

By 1971, the use of containers had again increased; 58% of the company's business moved via container.

Also in 1973, American Mail Line was fully absorbed into APL, and its ships were subsequently given traditional "President" names.

In 1978, the company began work on the concept of seamless integrated intermodal service in the United States market: the idea of moving containerized goods via ship, train and truck under one company identity.

In 1979 the company introduced the first container train, with service between the West Coast and New York, under the trade name 'LinerTrain.'

The President Lincoln entered American President Lines' fleet in 1982, the same year the company introduced its 45-foot high-cube shipping container to the industry.

American President Lines was spun off from Natomas as an independent, publicly held company on September 1, 1983, in part as a result of a hostile takeover attempt on the company by Diamond Shamrock.

In 1984, the company started StackTrain service, an idea following on from the successful LinerTrain venture.

The company continued its growth with the launching of a $500 million capital expansion program in 1986 that included the purchases of five new C10-class container ships and new rail equipment, and provided enhancements for its shipping terminals and computer systems.

In a move that expanded the range of its intermodal service, American President Companies in 1988 launched a door-to-door truck load transportation service for domestic freight in the United States.

All these developments led APL to be declared an industry leader in 1989, with the award of the "Admiral of the Ocean Sea Award" by the United Seamen's Service to the president, W. Bruce Seaton.

The cost of the restructuring caused American President Companies to report a $60 million loss for the year in 1990.

Also in 1991 American President Companies spent $78 million to buy back 3.8 million shares of its stock from Itel Corp., a transportation equipment leasing company based in Chicago that held nearly 21 percent of American President Companies' stock.

Seaton retired as chairman and chief executive officer of the corporation on January 2, 1992.

In 1993, the company continued to increase its revenues, and entered a 30-year agreement with the Port of Los Angeles to open a new terminal, at a cost of $70 million.

The company became the first shipper to open a website in 1995, and offered online shipment transactions.

In 1997, the company was bought by Neptune Orient Lines for $285 million, at a cost of $33.50 per share.

In 1998, the APL vessel APL CHINA encountered a storm south of the Aleutian Islands.

In 1999, the stack train franchise was sold off to Pacer, and is now known as Pacer Stacktrain.

Acting CEO Ron Widdows began a campaign of cost cutting and sped up decision making, and since 2003, the company has been making money again.

In 2005, the company introduced the "Real-Time Locating System" using RFID tags, which accurately recorded the position of every container within the system, reducing delays and lost containers—APL's Global Gateway South terminal in Los Angeles now moves 1.65 million TEUs annually.

In 2009, APL and other Neptune Orient business moved to a new headquarters in Singapore.

On June 10, 2016, APL and NOL became subsidiaries of CMA-CGM when over 90% of Singapore stocks were purchased by the container line.