American President Lines
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| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Shipping |
| Founded | 1848 |
| Headquarters | France and United States |
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Key people
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(President) |
| Services |
Container Shipping Terminals |
| Revenue | US$ 7.9 billion (FY 2011) |
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Number of employees
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4,300 (2012) |
| Parent | CMA CGM |
| Website | apl.com |
American President Lines Ltd. (now simply referred to as APL), along with its parent company CMA CGM, is the world's third-largestcontainer transportation and shipping company, providing more than 80 weekly services.
APL operates a container-ship fleet, including 153 container vessels. Formerly a subsidiary of Neptune Orient Lines (NOL), it is now a wholly owned subsidiary of CMA CGM, a global transportation and logistics company engaged in shipping and related businesses based in France.
In 1938, the U.S. government took over the management of the Dollar Steamship Co. which was in financial difficulties and transferred their assets to the newly formed American President Lines.
Following the end of the Mexican-American War in 1848, the United States Pacific coastline now extended from Puget Sound to San Diego. When the 29th Congress passed the Mail Steamer Bill (1847), mail delivery was authorized to be routed by ship from the Eastern Seaboard to the Pacific Coast via the Isthmus of Panama, with two steamship routes operating: New York City to Chagres, Colombia on the Eastern side of the isthmus, and then a second route from Panama, Colombia to Astoria, Oregon. That same year, William Henry Aspinwall secured a 10-year government contract through Arnold Harris, with the New York State Senate incorporating the Pacific Mail Steamship Company with a capital of $400,000, of which Aspinwall was elected the first president. This company was to move the mail from Panama to the West Coast, being paid $199,000 per annum by the U.S. government. In January 1848, the company ordered three mail steamers from the shipyard of William Henry Webb: the SS California, SS Panama and SS Oregon. On October 5 or October 6, 1848 the Pacific Mail's first of these steamers, the SS California, departed from New York City to run service from Panama to the West Coast, traveling around Cape Horn to San Francisco—coincidentally, the California Gold Rush began in January of that year, and the steamer—and its sisters, Oregon and Panama—took on many hopeful miners en route.
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Wikipedia