Swedish American Line
| Industry | Cargo and passenger shipping |
|---|---|
| Fate | Defunct |
| Founded | 1915 |
| Defunct | 1975 |
| Headquarters | Gothenburg, Sweden |
|
Key people
|
Dan Broström |
| Parent | Broström Group |
| Subsidiaries | South Atlantic Lines, Home Lines, Hoverlloyd, Swedish Atlantic Line, Atlantic Container Line |
Swedish American Line (Swedish: Svenska Amerika Linien, abbreviated SAL) was a passenger and cargo shipping line. It was founded in December 1914 under the name Rederiaktiebolaget Sverige-Nordamerika, beginning ocean liner service from Gothenburg to New York in 1915. In 1925 the company changed its name to Svenska Amerika Linien / Swedish American Line.
The Swedish American Line was amongst the first companies to build liners with provisions for off-season cruising, as well as the first company to build a diesel-engined transatlantic liner. Increased operational costs and stronger competition from aeroplanes forced the company to abandon passenger traffic in 1975, but cargo operations continued until the 1980s.
Rederiaktiebolaget Sverige-Nordamerika (literally, "shipping corporation Sweden-North America") was born from the idea of Wilhelm R. Lundgren, the owner of Rederiaktiebolaget Transatlantic, with the purpose of offering ocean liner service from Sweden to North America. Both Norway and Denmark already operated their own transatlantic liners, and the establishing of a Swedish company for the trade was a matter of national pride. Lundgren died in September 1914, but his successor Gunnar Carlsson managed to attract the attention of Dan Broström of the Broström Concern, and on 4 December 1914 the new Rederiaktiebolaget Sverige-Nordamerika was founded in Gothenburg. The Broström Concern had already operated freighters across the North Atlantic since 1911 under the name of Swedish American Mexico Line (often abbreviated SAML). Originally the new company had planned to commission two purpose-built 18000-ton ships, but this plan was never realised. Instead, in September 1915 the company acquired the 1900-built Holland America Line vessel SS Potsdam, which was renamed . On 11 December 1915, in the midst of World War I, the Stockholm left on her first crossing from Gothenburg to New York. En route she was stopped by a British naval vessel and forced to make a stop at Kirkwall, where all mail onboard was confiscated. In the end, the Stockholm's first transatlantic crossing took no less than 15½ days. Initially the new company concentrated on immigrant trade, with substantial provision made for passengers traveling in steerage. Despite the difficulties caused by the war, the Stockholm continued transatlantic services until 1917, when Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare forced her to be laid up in Gothenburg until June 1918, when she resumed service.
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