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| Industry | water transport  |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1911, refounding: 2012 |
| Founder | Vestey Brothers |
| Fate | Sold toP&O Nedlloyd in 1998 |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Services | Container transportation, Passenger transportation |
| US $ 159.3 million in 2013 | |
| Subsidiaries | Lamport & Holt Line,Booth Line, Associated container transportation, Starman shipping, Austasia line |
TheBlue Star Line was aBritish passenger and cargo shipping company formed in 1911, being in operation until 1998.
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Blue Star Line was formed as an initiative by theVestey Brothers, aLiverpool-based butchers company, who had founded the Union Cold Storage Company to take advantage of refrigeration practices. They developed a large importation business, shipping frozen meat from South America to Britain, initially fromArgentina on ships of theRoyal Mail Steam Packet Company, and other shipping lines that called at South American ports. The high prices charged for transport by these companies led the Vestey brothers to start to operate their own ships.[1] They chartered their first ships from 1904, and began to buy their own ships from 1909 onwards. The Blue Star Line was officially inaugurated on 28 July 1911, initially using second-hand ships. They ordered their first new ship in 1914, and by the outbreak of theFirst World War were operating twelve refrigerated cargo ships.[2] These were initially prefixed 'Brod', e.g.Brodfield,Brodholme andBrodland. Ships of the company were identifiable by their red funnels with black tops and narrow white and black bands, with a white circle with blue five-pointed star on the red background. Their hull colours were either black or black with a white band, and red boot-topping.[1]
The company supplied beef toallied forces in France during the war, and began an expansion programme after it was over. The name format was altered with the introduction of the "Star" suffix to ship names, starting withRoyalstar launched in 1919, later renamedRoyal Star. The company expanded its operations to include services to the Pacific coast of North America from 1920, and Australia and New Zealand from 1933. The Blue Star Line acquiredFrederick Leyland and Company in 1935 and operated it as a subsidiary.[1][2]
Blue Star expanded into passenger transport, notably with five 12,900 GRTliners built in 1926–27 for its newLondon –Rio de Janeiro –Buenos Aires route.Cammell Laird ofBirkenhead built threesister ships:Almeda,Andalucia andArandora.John Brown & Company ofClydebank built two:Avelona andAvila. The quintet came to be called the "Luxury Five". The five ships also hadrefrigerated holds to carry frozen meat from South America to Britain.[3]
The new service was a challenge to both foreign competitors and theRoyal Mail Steam Packet Company, whoseRoyal Mail Ships had been the premier UK carrier of mail, passengers and some cargoes between Britain, Brazil and theRiver Plate for 75 years. RMSP ChairmanLord Kylsant called the Blue Star ships"very keen competition" even though at the very same time his company introduced two larger and more luxurious newocean liners for passenger and refrigerated cargo on the route, the 22,200 GRTAsturias (completed 1926) andAlcantara (completed 1927).[4]
In 1929 Blue Star added "Star" to the end of the name of each of its ships. This may have been partly to help distinguish Blue Star fromRoyal Mail Steam Packet Company, whose ships bore similarSpanish names. RMSP was an old company with a distinguished history, but had got into difficulties and collapsed amid financial scandal in 1932.[3]
In 1935Harland and Wolff inBelfast launchedImperial Star, the first of a new class of refrigerated cargomotor ships designed to carry frozen meat on Blue Star's regular route fromAustralia andNew Zealand to the UK. By the end of 1939 Harland and Wolff had completed sixImperial Star-class ships andCammell Laird inBirkenhead had completed three.
By 1939 Blue Star Line operated 39 ships, all of which gaveSecond World War service. In 1940 anImperial Star-class ship being built byBurmeister & Wain inDenmark was captured in theGerman invasion of Denmark and completed as aKriegsmarinesubmarine tender.[5]
Because theImperial Star-class were refrigerated and in merchant shipping terms relatively fast, several sailed in high-risk convoys to relieve thesiege of Malta.Melbourne Star andSydney Star took part inOperation Substance in July 1941,Imperial Star andDunedin Star were inOperation Halberd the following month, and in August 1942Melbourne Star andBrisbane Star served inOperation Pedestal. In February 1942 another ship of the same class,Empire Star, successfully evacuated an estimated 2,160 people from thefall of Singapore.
Blue Star suffered heavy losses. 29 ships were sunk: a total of 309,390 gross register tons (GRT). They included all of the Luxury Five liners, and twoEmpire ships that the company was managing for theMinistry of War Transport. Another 16 vessels, including three more Empire ships under Blue Star management, were seriously damaged. By the end of hostilities only 12"Star" ships remained in the fleet.[6] 646 Blue Star personnel, 272 passengers and 78DEMS gunners were killed.[7]
Blue Star Line boughtLamport and Holt Line in 1944 andBooth Steamship Company in 1946, and ships were often transferred back and forth between the subsidiary companies.[2]
Another building programme was enacted to replace wartime losses, supplemented by the purchase or hire of existing ships includingEmpire ships such asEmpire Castle andEmpire Strength from theMinistry of War Transport. In 1952 Austasia Line was formed to operate services between Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia, while Blue Star Line took over the North American routes previously operated byDonaldson Line in 1954.[1] In 1957 Blue Star Line joined with three other shipping companies, theNew Zealand Shipping Company,Port Line andShaw, Savill & Albion to form the Crusader Shipping Company, and in 1965 entered a partnership with Italian shippers to form Calmeda S.p.A. di Nav, Cagliari.[1] Blue Star Line now had global interests, with ports of call on the Pacific North American coast, in Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, South America and Italy. They were also one of the major shareholders, along with several other large shipping firms, inBritish United Airways.[2]
Blue Star Line divested itself of its holdings in British United Airways in 1968 and became one of the founding partners that year inAssociated Container Transportation (ACT), along with theBen Line,Cunard (Port Line),Harrison Line andEllerman Lines. Blue Star Line gradually moved towardscontainerization, ending its passenger services to South America in 1972.[1][2] Blue Star took over ACT's Pacific Australia Container Express (PACE) line which operated between the USA and Australia.[citation needed]
In 1982–83 Blue Star Line assisted in the defence of theFalkland Islands by managing thebarracks shipTEV Rangatira atPort Stanley.[8][9] Also managed MVAvelona Star at the time under requisition of MOD.
Blue Star Line was bought byP&O Nedlloyd in 1998, which acquired the name and most of the assets, with the exception of most of thereefer ships, which were kept by theVestey Group under the nameAlbion Reefers, and then merged withHamburg Süd's reefer fleet under the name Star Reefers.[2] Star Reefers was sold in July 2001 to Norwegian interests, and then subsequently merged withNYK Group asNYK Star Reefers Ltd. The Blue Star Line ships bought by P&O Nedlloyd, which included those operated as part of ACT, continued in service with P&O Nedlloyd under Blue Star Line names and liveries. Some of the original Blue Star vessels sold to P&O Nedlloyd traded until February 2003 on the East Coast of America to Australia and New Zealand. They were theAmerica Star (exACT 3),Melbourne Star (exACT 4),Sydney Star (exACT 5) andQueensland Star (exACT 6). The last vessel trading, to carry the Blue Star funnel colours was theAmerica Star, which was handed over to be broken up on 19 February 2003.[2]
P&O Nedlloyd formed Reederei Blue Star in 2002 as a ship management company, from which it chartered ships.[citation needed] P&O Nedlloyd was bought by AP Moller Maersk Group in 2005 and merged into its operations to formMaersk Line. Reederei Blue Star continues to operate as part of Maersk Line.[2]
On 18 June 2009 Komrowski took over the ship management company Reederei Blue Star GmbH, Hamburg, from Maersk Ship Management Holding B.V., Rotterdam. As of July 2012, the Komrowski Group-owned Blue Star merged with Komrowski Befrachtungskontor and E.R. Schiffahrt to form The Blue Star Holding.
TheTitanic II, a replica ship proposal of the originalTitanic that sank in 1912, is aBlue Star Line Cruises ship owned by Australian billionaire/businessmanClive Palmer who started the plan on April 14, 2012.[citation needed] This effort has no relation to the original and historic Blue Star Line.
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