Pacific Steam Navigation Company

The Pacific Steam Navigation Company (Spanish: Compañía de Vapores del Pacífico) was a commercial shipping company that operated in the Pacific coast of South America, and was the first to use steam ships for commercial traffic in the Pacific Ocean.

The company was founded by William Wheelwright in London in 1838 and began operations in 1840 when two steam ships Chile and Peru were commissioned to carry mail. Early ports of call were Valparaíso, Coquimbo, Huasco, Copiapó, Cobija, Iquique, Arica, Islay, Pisco and Callao. In 1846 the company expanded its routes to include Huanchaco, Lambayeque, Paita, Guayaquil, Buenaventura and Panama City.

In 1852 the company gained a contract for British Government mail to posts in western South America. Two direct routes were also established - Liverpool to Callao in 1868 and London to Sydney in 1877. In common with its contemporaries, the company lost a number of ships in its early decades. They included Tacna, which exploded in 1874 killing 19 people, and Atacama, which ran aground in 1877 killing 102 people.

In 1905 the company sold its London – Sydney route to the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, which bought the entire company in 1910. Pacific Steam continued to lose ships at sea. In 1902 Arequipa was wrecked in a gale, killing 63 people. In 1907 Santiago met a similar fate, killing 45 people. In 1911 Taboga ran aground, killing 60 people.

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