American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines

American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines, New York, was the leading US-flag shipping company between the US east coast and the Mediterranean from 1919 to 1977, offering both Cargo ship services and Passenger ship services, until declaring bankruptcy and was acquired by Farrell Lines, New York.

Company history

American Export Lines (I)

Export Steamship Corporation was organized in 1919 and began operating cargo services to the Mediterranean from New York. The word "American" was added in the 1920s to emphasize its ties to the U.S.. In 1931, they placed in service four cargo-passenger liners, Excalibur, Excambion, Exeter and Exochorda, known as the "Four Aces". The timing of their new service was unfortunately at the beginning of the depression. The company went through various reorganisations and became the American Export Lines in 1936. In 1964, it merged with Isbrandtsen Co. to become the American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines.

Isbrandtsen Steamship Company

Hans Isbrandtsen and his cousin A. P. Møller, the shipping magnate who formed the great Mærsk Line, began a joint venture in 1919 forming the Isbrandtsen-Moller Company (ISMOLCO) in New York. ISMOLCO grew rapidly when in 1928, a long-term agreement was reached with Ford Motor Corporation, shipping auto parts and general cargo for Japan, China and the Philippines via the Panama Canal. Isbrandtsen founded the Isbrandtsen Steamship Company in 1939 to operate ships in areas where ISMOLCO was not involved. In 1940, this joint venture dramatically transformed due to Permanent Special Instructions One issued by Møller, upon which A. P. Møller's son Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller was made a partner. In 1941, the joint venture ended. Møller and his son went on to found the Interseas Shipping Co., Inc., the predecessor to the Moller Steamship Company, an agent for the Mærsk Line in the United States ¹ . While Interseas Shipping Co., Inc., operated mainly in the Atlantic, Isbrandtsen Steamship Company traded mainly in the Far East. Hans's son Jakob took over the company in 1953 upon Hans's passing and bought American Export Lines in 1960. The purchase was approved by the United States Maritime Administration in 1962. Jakob Isbrandtsen merged Isbrandtsen Co. with American Export Lines in 1964 to form American Export & Isbrandtsen Lines, which a year later changed its name to American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines.

American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines

Jakob Isbrandtsen formed the American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines in 1964 by merging his two shipping companies. Also in 1964, Isbrandtsen, who became a majority stake holder in Ward Industries in 1960, restructured it and formed American Export Industries, Inc., a holding company to manage American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines and all support for his fleet operations, including container services, port operations and fleet logistics. In 1971, American Export Industries spun off its holdings and returned to being the American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines. This merger ended in 1973.

American Export Lines (II)

American Export Lines (AEL), re-emerged after the dissolution of the American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines in 1973. AEL sold their Staten Island Marine Terminal to the City of New York in 1974. After heavy losses and unable to meet crippling debt payments, AEL went into bankruptcy in July 1977, with Farrell Lines buying its remaining ships and port operations in New York a year later. Farrell Lines was acquired by Royal P&O Nedlloyd in July 2000, in turn, the Royal P&O Nedlloyd was acquired by A.P. Moller-Maersk Group in August 2005. The port operations formerly associated with the American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines became part of the Dubai Ports World controversy in February 2006.

Passenger shipping services

Their first passenger ships were actually combination passenger-cargo ships, known as "Four Aces", Excalibur, Exeter, Excambion and Exochorda. These ships were first launched in 1931 and with the exception of the Exochorda, lost during World War II as a result of enemy fire. The latter ship was sold to Turkish Maritime Lines and renamed Tarsus.

Following the war, the tonnage was replaced with C-3 class troop transports with the same names. They were given luxury appointments for 125 passengers as well as sufficient cargo-carrying capacity.

The crowning achievement in American Export's passenger services were their largest and best-known liners, the SS Constitution and SS Independence.

Cargo shipping services

Subsidiaries

• American Export Airlines
• Containers Marine Lines Isbrandtsen
• Containers Marine Lines

Ships

Some Principal Executives

• Henry Herbermann, 1920–1935
• William Hugh Coverdale, 1934–1949
• John E. Slater, 1934–1956
• John F. Gehan, 1939–1959
• Frazer A. Bailey, 1957–1959
• Josephine Bay Paul, 1959–1960
• Jakob Isbrandtsen, 1960–1971
• John M. Will, 1959–1971

See also

• South Street Seaport Museum, where Jakob Isbrandtsen served as its trustee

External links

• Time Magazine - Monday, Jan. 16, 1950 — Rugged Individualist
• Time Magazine - Monday, Oct. 09, 1950 — Sea Lawyer
• Maritime Matters — index of Ocean liners and cruise ships
• Passenger service time tables
• Postcards featuring American Export Lines ships
• The Last Ocean Liners - American Export Lines - trade routes and ships of American Export Lines in the 1950s and 60s
• Josephine Bay Paul and C. Michael Paul Foundation
• Flags of the Isbrandtsen Steamship Company
• Flags of the American Export Lines
• Flag of the American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines
• Passenger service dinnerware
• Detailed history of American Export Lines
• American Export Industries, Inc.
• Shipbuilding under the Merchant Marine Act of 1936

References

• National Cyclopedia of American Biography, vol. 41.
• Dugan, James. American Viking: The saga of Hans Isbrandtsen (New York: Harper and Row, 1963)
• De la Pedraja, René. The Rise and Decline of U.S. Merchant Shipping in the Twentieth Century (New York: Twayne, 1992)
• De la Pedraja Tomán, René. A Historical Dictionary of the U.S. Merchant Marine and Shipping Industry Since the Introduction of Steam (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1994).