Ben Line

Ben Line Agencies Ltd

Type	private
Industry	Shipping Agents
Founded	1992 to present
Headquarters	Singapore
Area served	Asia
Services	Liner Agency, Port Agency, Offshore Support, Project Logistics, Ship Broking
Number of employees	2000
Website	http://www.benlineagencies.com/

Ben Line Agencies (previously Ben Line Steamers) is a Singapore-based shipping agency, operating across Asia. As of 2013, the company had over 110 offices and 2000 employees. Ben Line Agencies operates four specific areas: Port Agency, Liner Agency, Offshore Support and Project Logistics services.

The company in its previous form was founded in Scotland in 1825 under the name of Ben Line.

The Ben Line or Ben Line Steamers, Limited was a Scottish shipping company based in Leith, Scotland which pioneered the Far East Europe trade. A private company, it was largely owned by members of the Thomson family from Leith and the Mitchell family from Alloa.

The company was founded in 1825 as ship-brokers by two brothers, William Thomson (1806-1889) and Alexander Thomson (1795-1880). Their sister Jemima married Thomas Henderson, an older brother of Patrick Henderson. Originally the Thomson brothers were "merchants and marble-cutters" and were involved in importing Carrara marble from Leghorn, Italy, with assistance from Thomas Henderson. Their first ship in 1839 was the barque Carrara of 218 tons, built at Limekilns in Fife and used on the Leith-Leghorn run. The marble business declined in the 1830s, and they acquired in 1840 for £3500 the wooden ship Australia of 388 tons, built on the Tyne in 1825. She was used on the North Atlantic trade, carrying Alloa coal to Canada, and returning with timber to Leith, and was lost on Sable Island on the approaches to the St Lawrence River in 1841. But the North Atlantic trade, carrying coal from William Mitchell’s Alloa Coal Company to Canada and returning with timber to Leith, was a Thomson staple business for years. Several sailing ships acquired in the 1840s were built in Canada.

In the 1850s the Thomsons and Mitchells moved into longer and more profitable routes to Australia and the Far East with larger ships, purchasing nine sailing ships in the 1860s, including the iron ship James Wishart. The Far Eastern ships sailed to China and Japan via a base in Singapore, including the China tea trade. Their first (brig-rigged) steamship, the Benledi of 1557 tons gross was built in Glasgow at Barclay Curle Clydeholm shipyard. Two steamers the Petersburg and Stirling were acquired in 1877 for the Baltic trade. Also in 1877, Benlarig of 1692 tons was built (in Dumbarton), and in 1895 was carrying niter from Chile to New York.