| Type | Publicly traded |
|---|---|
| Traded as | OTCQB: HRZLD |
| Founded | 1956 |
| Headquarters | Charlotte, North Carolina |
| Services | Container shipping, terminals, and ferry. |
| Operating income | USD 1163 million (2010)[1] |
| Total assets | USD 786 million (2010)[1] |
| Employees | 1,890 (2010)[1] |
| Website | www.horizonlines.com |
Horizon Lines, Inc. is an American domestic ocean shipping and logistics company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is the largest Jones Act container shipping and logistics company, accounting for approximately 37% of total US marine container shipments linking the continental United States to Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico.[2] Under the Jones Act domestic US maritime trade is restricted to US owners of US-built and flagged vessels manned by predominantly US-citizen crews. The company originated from Sea-Land Service, Inc. The domestic liner operations of Sea-Land were sold in 2003 and have since operated under the name Horizon Lines. Horizon became a publically traded company on the New York Stock Exchange in 2005. [3]
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Horizon owns or leases a fleet of 20 container ships consisting of 15 Jones Act ships, 5 non-Jones Act (foreign built) ships, [4] and approximately 31,000 cargo containers. The company also operates terminals in Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. Approximately 150 port calls are made each year in Tacoma, Washington for service between Alaska or Hawaii. [5] Until November 2011, the company ran trans-Pacific service to Guam and China. [6] It also contracts for terminal services in seven ports in the continental United States. The primary customers are consumer and industrial products companies, as well as various agencies of the U.S. government, including the Department of Defense and the U.S. Postal Service.
Horizon has met with criticism within the investor community due to the age of some of its vessels. In the world fleet container ships go to the scrap yard at age 28 while Horizon still maintains several steam powered vessels.[7] Two such vessels, SS Horizon Challenger (ex-American Legion) and SS Horizon Discovery (ex-American Liberty), were built in 1968 for the now defunct United States Lines[8].
In May of 2011 the US Dept. of Justice reduced the fine levied the previous month after the company pleaded guilty to price fixing in the Puerto Rico market from USD 45m to USD 15m. [9] [10]. The reduction was attributed to pressure from bondholders and the possibility that Horizon would declare bankruptcy after losing a contract with Danish shipping group Maersk Line. In October 2011, the company completed a USD 653m refinancing move to avoid bankruptcy. On October 20, 2011 the New York Stock Exchange suspended trading of Horizon’s stock because it had fallen below its USD 15m continued listing standard for average global market capitalization over a consecutive 30-day trading period.[11] The company stock currently trades on the OTCQB market. In November 2011, the company agreed to settle with the remaining shippers who opted out of the Puerto Rico direct purchaser antitrust class action settlement for USD $13.75m [12]