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The International Navigation Company (INC) was a Philadelphia based holding company owning 26 ships totaling 181,000 tons and carried more passengers than either Cunard or White Star, when the company was reorganized as International Mercantile Marine in 1902. INC was formed in 1871 with the backing of the Pennsylvania Railroad to operate foreign flagged vessels on transatlantic routes to Philadelphia. Clement Griscom, the company’s general manager, entered into an agreement with the Belgian Government to establish the Red Star Line to operate a mail service out of Antwerp to Philadelphia and New York. This subsidiary would provide most of the company’s profits for the next 30 years. In 1873, Griscom also took over the management of the American Steamship Company, a Philadelphia based passenger and cargo service to Liverpool that was also backed by the Pennsylvania Railroad. This company, known as the American “Keystone” Line was unprofitable because of the substantially higher costs associated with operating American-flagged vessels. In 1884, the assets of the American Line were acquired by International Navigation. Two years later, INC also acquired the assets of the financially troubled Inman Line, operator of a British flagged Liverpool-New York mail service. With PRR’s backing, Griscom ordered two record breakers to restore Inman’s fortunes. However, the British Government objected to Inman’s ownership change and revoked Imman’s mail contract. Griscom successfully lobbied Congress to reflag the two new express liners and qualify for an American mail subsidy. In 1893, Inman was merged the American Line and the company built two additional express liners in the US to create a premium weekly service, now routed to Southampton.〔 Griscom believed that the major lines should be merged to control capacity and avoid rate wars. In 1899, he became acquainted with J. P. Morgan, an investment banker who was responsible for many of the large mergers during the period. With financing from Morgan’s syndicate, in 1902 Griscom and Morgan expanded International Navigation by acquiring the Atlantic Transport Line, the Leyland Line, the White Star Line, the Dominion Line and half of Holland America. International Navigation was renamed International Mercantile Marine (IMM).〔 However, Griscom and Morgan paid too high a price for the companies they acquired and IMM struggled under the debt payments. Management was reorganized to focus on White Star, the most profitable subsidiary.〔 In 1915, IMM was forced into bankruptcy when the war disrupted cash flow, but later was able to profit from the wartime demand for shipping. In the 1920s and 1930s, IMM gradually sold off its foreign subsidiaries.〔 In 1931, it acquired the United States Lines, and merged all operations under that name in 1943.〔 The company failed in 1986 and was liquidated when it over expanded in the cargo container business. ==1871–84== In 1858, the Inman Line abandoned Philadelphia as its American terminus and switched its operations to New York. Various interests in Philadelphia, including the Pennsylvania Railroad, recognized the need to reestablish steamship service directly to Europe. In 1870, PRR backed the creation of two shipping companies, the US-flagged American Steamship Company and the foreign flagged International Navigation Company. Chartered on May 5, 1871, International Navigation was created by the Philadelphia ship brokerage of Peter Wright & Sons. A $1 million bond issue was guaranteed by PRR and the initial $1.5 million stock offering was largely purchased by a small group of Peter Wright partners and PRR executives. The new firm’s affairs were turned over to a 30-year-old Peter Wright partner, Clement A. Griscom, who was also a close associate of Edgar Thompson, President of PRR. International Navigation’s original plan was to operate UK flagged steamers on the Liverpool–Philadelphia route and to coordinate sailings with the American Steamship Company, operating as the American “Keystone” Line. Since Peter Wright & Sons was also involved in the early transport of oil from the Pennsylvania petroleum fields, Griscom had the support of the Standard Oil Company for his new steamship line. INC ordered its first steamer as a combined passenger ship/tanker, but she probably only carried oil on one voyage after it was realized that the fire hazard with tankers was too great to also carry passengers on the same ship.〔 In 1872, Griscom and Thompson concluded that International Navigation should seek a terminus on the continent. According to his son, Griscom marked all of the principle manufacturing towns in England, Belgium, France and Germany and determined that the center was Antwerp Belgium. Griscom immediately left for Europe and met with Antwerp officials about the necessary improvements to modernize the old port into the terminus for a steamship line. When he was told that Leopold II must also approve, Griscom left for Brussels where he received the King's strong support including a postal subsidy and port improvements. On September 27, 1872, the Red Star Line was chartered in Belgium as the “Societe Anonyme de Navigation Belge-Americaine”. In addition to Griscom, the board included Thomas Scott, who in two years would become President of the Pennsylvania Railroad.〔 Red Star’s Antwerp–Philadelphia Service started in January 1873. Red Star took delivery of three new steamers built in England and supplemented its fleet with chartered tonnage.〔 Red Star was in better position to survive the depression of 1873 than the US-flagged American “Keystone” Line because operating as a US carrier resulted in about 30% higher costs. At the end of 1873, Griscom took over management of the American Keystone Line. In 1874, Red Star also started an Antwerp-New York service under a mail contract from the Belgian Government.〔 Red Star thrived and by 1881 carried over 40,000 passengers. At the same time, the American Keystone Line was not profitable because of its higher cost structure. When the hoped for subsidy never came from Congress, PRR decided to reorganize American Steamship. In 1884, PRR offered to purchase 14,500 new shares in International Navigation for $725,000 to finance INC’s purchase of American Steamship’s four vessels as well as its name and good will. The money never actually left PRR's account because it was used to repay the railroad for the American Steamship bonds it guaranteed. When the transaction was completed, the American Keystone Line became INC’s second operating subsidiary.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「International Navigation Company」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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