SSA Marine history

In 1952, Fred Smith made the first step outside Bellingham Bay by investing in a company called Southeast Stevedoring, which established the company's presence in Alaska.

In 1987, SSA established its first intermodal operations, joining Intermodal Management Services, Inc. to create Pacific Rail Services.

SEACO's addition to SSA's operations entrenched the company's position at ports first entered through the 1989 acquisition of Carolina Stevedoring.

Smith's promotion to the company's two most powerful posts in 1991 made room for the promotion of Jon Hemingway to president, the third generation of the Hemingway family to assume the office.

In 1993, SSA also acquired New Zealand Stevedoring Company Limited, the largest stevedoring company in New Zealand, and, through a joint venture, began handling cargo throughout southern Africa.

SSA's most significant project in 1994 was a joint venture with Motores Internacionales S.A. to build and operate a container terminal near the city of Colon on the east end of the Panama Canal.

In 1995, SSA purchased a large stevedoring firm named Ryan-Walsh, Inc., based in Mobile, Alabama.

In 1996, the company acquired a 31 percent interest in Lotus Joint Venture Company, Ltd., a Vietnamese concern created to develop and operate a container terminal and warehousing operation in Saigon.

Expansion is completed in 2002, and Terminal 18 becomes the largest terminal in the Pacific Northwest.

China Shipping’s expanded Seattle Container Service starts calling in 2009.