.jpg) | |
| Industry | Transport |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1873 |
| Defunct | 1973 |
| Successor | P&O |
| Headquarters | , United Kingdom  |
| Products | Passenger and Cargo Shipping |
The New Zealand Shipping Company (NZSC) was a shipping company whose ships ran passenger and cargo services between Great Britain and New Zealand between 1873 and 1973.
A group of Christchurch businessmen[1] founded the company in 1873, similar groups formed in the other main centres, to counter the dominance of the Shaw Savill line controlled from London and the (Scotland-Dunedin) Albion line. There were seven initial directors: John Coster, chairman, George Gould Snr., (father of George Gould), John Thomas Peacock, William Reeves, Robert Heaton Rhodes, John Anderson, and Reginald Cobb (died 1873[2]) representing the New Zealand Loan & Mercantile Agency.[3]
The similar groups of businessmen in Dunedin and Wellington soon joined this Christchurch company followed by the Auckland group. They completed the four-main-centre link in July 1873.[4][5] Hon. John Johnston Wellington, John Logan Campbell Auckland, and Evan Prosser of Dunedin were elected to the main board.[6] A Captain Ashby opened an office off New Broad Street London and chartered two ships carrying 500 government emigrants: Punjaub 883 tons and Adamant 815 tons set to sail for Canterbury on 31 May and 20 June respectively with full cargo.[7] By November 1873 they had purchased two vessels, Hindostan and Dilfillan and chartered eighteen. Two 1,000 ton ships were scheduled to be launched the same month and named Waikato and Waitangi.[6]
The company gradually established a fleet of vessels, using Māori names for each. From 1875 the livery consisted of black hulls, white superstructure and yellow funnels.[8]
In 1882, the company's ships were equipped with refrigeration.[8] and a frozen meat service began from New Zealand to England.
Company policy dictated a stop at Pitcairn Islands, in the Pacific, to break the monotony of the ocean crossing.
- ^ News of the Day The Press, 21 November 1872 Page 3
- ^ News of the Day. The Press, 4 September 1873 Page 2
- ^ "Commercial". Lyttelton Times. Vol. XXXIX, no. 3748. 25 January 1873. p. 2. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
- ^ New Zealand Freight Company Limited Auckland Star 4 July 1873 Page 2
- ^ The South New Zealand Herald 12 August 1873 Page 3
- ^ a b The Press 11 November 1873 Page 2
- ^ Shipping New Zealand Herald, 14 July 1873 Page 2
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
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