Ellerman Lines

Ellerman Lines was formed in 1901, with its roots from the fleet of Frederick Leyland and Bibby Line that was acquired by John Ellerman in 1892 with partners Christopher Furness and Henry O'Hagan. Ellerman took over the Liverpool firm, West India & Pacific Steamship in 1900. In 1901 Ellerman sold his fleet to J.P. Morgan, the American financier, whose aim was to establish a world-wide shipping combine, the International Mercantile Marine.  Ellerman arranged to buy back the ships serving the Mediterranean, Portugal, Montreal and Antwerp.  He augmented his new fleet by the purchase of the Papayanni City and Hall Lines in 1901.  These formed a new company, Ellerman Lines Ltd.  Westcott and Laurance, which traded from London to the Mediterranean, was purchased in 1902, and Bucknall, trading to South Africa, in 1908.

The larger of the purchased lines remained distinct units after their acquisition.  In 1916 the Wilson Line of Hull was purchased by Ellerman.  The group lost ships in the First World War and weathered the financial crises of the interwar period.  Ellerman died in 1933.  By 1939 the group owned 109 ships, of which 58 were lost in the Second World War.  The ships were replaced but trading became more difficult with the introduction of containerisation.

In 1966 Ellerman joined the Associated Container Lines (ACT) consortium and started the successful containerisation of the Mediterranean services.  In 1973 the group, which by now, had many other interests beyond shipping, including hotels, brewing and printing, merged all its shipping companies into one division.  Ten years later the whole business was sold to the Barclay brothers after making heavy losses.  In 1985 the shipping business was purchased by its management, then sold to Trafalgar House to become Cunard-Ellerman in 1987, and in 1991, it was sold to the Andrew Weir Shipping Group.

In December 2002, Hamburg Sud acquired the NW Europe-Med and NW Europe-Middle East trades of Andrew Weir, which were traded under the Ellerman Lines brand. The Ellerman name was officially dropped in January 2005.