Christensen Canadian African Lines
Encyclopedia
Christensen Canadian African Lines (CCAL) was a Norwegian
cargo shipping company that traded between Canada
and Africa
between 1948 and 2000.
and South Africa
. The first sailing was undertaken by in May 1948 with 1890 tons of cargo on board. CCAL aimed to compete with the British Elder Dempster Lines
of Liverpool
, which operated a liner service between South Africa and Atlantic North America
via West Africa
. The first year of operation showed a loss, which was however soon recovered in the following years.
The company, which was initially named Christensen Canadian South African Lines (CCSAL), was owned and operated by Lars Christensen's A/S Thor Dahl shipping company and appointed Kerr Steamship to providing the agency network in North America and Africa. CCSAL started up with three vessels setting up a monthly service: the chartered MV Norden and and the owned (formerly the Philae). Soon Burntisland Shipbuilidng Co supplied three new ships: , and which were delivered between November 1948 and June 1949.
In 1951 Holland Africa line was appointed to operate the agencies in Africa. Kerr remained as agent for Canada only.
As traffic grew, it was decided to supplement the Burntisland vessels with larger and faster ships. Thor Dahl contracted three vessels of about 8000 tons deadweight
in Bergen: delivered in 1952, delivered in 1954 and delivered in 1955. Thorsisle was transferred to Pacific Islands Transport Line after delivery of MV Thorsgaard. Other Thor Dahl vessels operated in the CCSAL were that carried fruit, , built in Germany
to a typical German design, and .
The main export cargo from Canada was newsprint, printing paper and other forest products. The bulk of this cargo from Canada was produced in areas far from Montreal
and it was necessary for the vessels to call at other ports in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence
and Saint Lawrence River
to load paper. Calls were also made at such ports as Corner Brook, Newfoundland, Baie-Comeau, Port-Alfred and Trois-Rivières
in Quebec
. The St. Lawrence Seaway in those days could only accommodate vessels of up to about 3,000 DWT what meant that not all CCSAL vessels could make a call to this port as they had a greater deadweight tonnage. In Africa ports in South Africa, Mozambique and later Tanzania and Kenya were called. With further growth of the traffic, calls to Mombasa
, Tanga
and Dar es Salaam
in East Africa were added and the company name changed into Christensen Canadian African Lines (CCAL). CCAL also started to call at some West African ports.
Thor Dahl then contracted a new trio at their own Framnaes shipyard in Sandefjord
which were faster and close to 9,000 DWT: delivered in 1958, delivered in 1959 and delivered in 1960.
Early in 1960 negotiations were opened between the South African Citrus Exchange in Pretoria
and CCAL to carry oranges from Cape Town
to Montreal. Due to this contract, the company began to equip vessels with simple means of cooling that was not installed before. Later, when the vessels had sophisticated cooling chambers installed with the required ventilation, boxes as packaging were replaced with cartons.
CCAL had then even larger vessels built at Framnaes. was operated from 1968 until she was sold in 1983, having by then made 62 round trips for the line.
Due to the decrease of cargo in the early to middle 1980's, it was decided that CCAL would no longer serve East Africa on a regular basis and that the vessels would turn around at Durban
, or often Richard's Bay. When the Canadian government decided to join international sanctions against South Africa the import of agricultural products from South Africa to Canada was lost. In order to compensate for this, a call to ports in Portugal
was added, causing an increased transit time between Cape Town
and Montreal of about nine days. The cargo shipped consisted mainly of container traffic, with a small amount of general cargo. A further growth of the traffic between South Africa and Canada was caused by the departure of CCAL's competitor Fednav Group
from the market due to the sanctions against South Africa. Later CCAL dropped the Portugal call as the cargo loaded was heavy weighting causing a too deep draft for the port of Montreal which resulted in discharging some cargo Quebec City already what made this traffic unprofitable.
CCAL also operated oil tankers, but due to the 1973 oil crisis
it converted an order for two new tankers into one for ice-strengthened 20,000 DWT multipurpose cargo ships: and which could also carry 2,000 tonnes of fruit per sailing in refrigerated holds. Additionally they could carry 400 TEU
of containers
. These two vessels were the last new ships for A/S Thor Dahl and left the trade in the late 1990s due to increased maintenance costs and because the engines were not as fuel-efficient as in more modern vessels.
On 31 August 2000 a deal was closed between A/S Thor Dahl and CP Ships
allowing CP to buy Christensen Canadian African Lines (CCAL). CCAL operated at this time a 21 day multi-purpose service between Eastern Canada, Great Lakes and South Africa, using three "Astrakhan" type vessels. CCAL had provided uninterrupted service for more than 50 years. CP Ships integrated CCAL into its Americana Ships division and merged it into the Lykes Lines brand. TUI AG
bought CP and merged in 2006 in Hapag-Lloyd
.
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
cargo shipping company that traded between Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
between 1948 and 2000.
History
Consul Lars Christensen founded the company in 1948 after a suggestion by his friend Alfred Clegg of Kerr Steamship as a liner service provider between east coast of CanadaCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. The first sailing was undertaken by in May 1948 with 1890 tons of cargo on board. CCAL aimed to compete with the British Elder Dempster Lines
Elder Dempster Lines
Elder Dempster Lines was a British shipping company which operated from 1932 to 2000, although its origins stretch back into the mid-19th century.-History:Elder Dempster and Company started trading as the African Steamship Company in 1852...
of Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, which operated a liner service between South Africa and Atlantic North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
via West Africa
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
. The first year of operation showed a loss, which was however soon recovered in the following years.
The company, which was initially named Christensen Canadian South African Lines (CCSAL), was owned and operated by Lars Christensen's A/S Thor Dahl shipping company and appointed Kerr Steamship to providing the agency network in North America and Africa. CCSAL started up with three vessels setting up a monthly service: the chartered MV Norden and and the owned (formerly the Philae). Soon Burntisland Shipbuilidng Co supplied three new ships: , and which were delivered between November 1948 and June 1949.
In 1951 Holland Africa line was appointed to operate the agencies in Africa. Kerr remained as agent for Canada only.
As traffic grew, it was decided to supplement the Burntisland vessels with larger and faster ships. Thor Dahl contracted three vessels of about 8000 tons deadweight
Deadweight tonnage
Deadweight tonnage is a measure of how much weight a ship is carrying or can safely carry. It is the sum of the weights of cargo, fuel, fresh water, ballast water, provisions, passengers, and crew...
in Bergen: delivered in 1952, delivered in 1954 and delivered in 1955. Thorsisle was transferred to Pacific Islands Transport Line after delivery of MV Thorsgaard. Other Thor Dahl vessels operated in the CCSAL were that carried fruit, , built in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
to a typical German design, and .
The main export cargo from Canada was newsprint, printing paper and other forest products. The bulk of this cargo from Canada was produced in areas far from Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
and it was necessary for the vessels to call at other ports in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence
Gulf of Saint Lawrence
The Gulf of Saint Lawrence , the world's largest estuary, is the outlet of North America's Great Lakes via the Saint Lawrence River into the Atlantic Ocean...
and Saint Lawrence River
Saint Lawrence River
The Saint Lawrence is a large river flowing approximately from southwest to northeast in the middle latitudes of North America, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. It is the primary drainage conveyor of the Great Lakes Basin...
to load paper. Calls were also made at such ports as Corner Brook, Newfoundland, Baie-Comeau, Port-Alfred and Trois-Rivières
Trois-Rivières
Trois-Rivières means three rivers in French and may refer to:in Canada*Trois-Rivières, the largest city in the Mauricie region of Quebec, Canada*Circuit Trois-Rivières, a racetrack in Trois-Rivières, Quebec...
in Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
. The St. Lawrence Seaway in those days could only accommodate vessels of up to about 3,000 DWT what meant that not all CCSAL vessels could make a call to this port as they had a greater deadweight tonnage. In Africa ports in South Africa, Mozambique and later Tanzania and Kenya were called. With further growth of the traffic, calls to Mombasa
Mombasa
Mombasa is the second-largest city in Kenya. Lying next to the Indian Ocean, it has a major port and an international airport. The city also serves as the centre of the coastal tourism industry....
, Tanga
Tanga, Tanzania
Tanga is both the name of the most northerly seaport city of Tanzania, and the surrounding Tanga Region. It is the Regional Headquarters of the region.With a population of 243,580 in 2002, Tanga is one of the largest cities in the country...
and Dar es Salaam
Dar es Salaam
Dar es Salaam , formerly Mzizima, is the largest city in Tanzania. It is also the country's richest city and a regionally important economic centre. Dar es Salaam is actually an administrative province within Tanzania, and consists of three local government areas or administrative districts: ...
in East Africa were added and the company name changed into Christensen Canadian African Lines (CCAL). CCAL also started to call at some West African ports.
Thor Dahl then contracted a new trio at their own Framnaes shipyard in Sandefjord
Sandefjord
is a city and municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Sandefjord. The municipality of Sandefjord was established on 1 January 1838...
which were faster and close to 9,000 DWT: delivered in 1958, delivered in 1959 and delivered in 1960.
Early in 1960 negotiations were opened between the South African Citrus Exchange in Pretoria
Pretoria
Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...
and CCAL to carry oranges from Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
to Montreal. Due to this contract, the company began to equip vessels with simple means of cooling that was not installed before. Later, when the vessels had sophisticated cooling chambers installed with the required ventilation, boxes as packaging were replaced with cartons.
CCAL had then even larger vessels built at Framnaes. was operated from 1968 until she was sold in 1983, having by then made 62 round trips for the line.
Due to the decrease of cargo in the early to middle 1980's, it was decided that CCAL would no longer serve East Africa on a regular basis and that the vessels would turn around at Durban
Durban
Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...
, or often Richard's Bay. When the Canadian government decided to join international sanctions against South Africa the import of agricultural products from South Africa to Canada was lost. In order to compensate for this, a call to ports in Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
was added, causing an increased transit time between Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
and Montreal of about nine days. The cargo shipped consisted mainly of container traffic, with a small amount of general cargo. A further growth of the traffic between South Africa and Canada was caused by the departure of CCAL's competitor Fednav Group
Fednav Group
Fednav Group is a group of seven Canadian companies in the Ship transport industry. Primarily involved in transporting bulk cargo and break bulk cargo worldwide, the group is also involved in vessel servicing and cargo handling....
from the market due to the sanctions against South Africa. Later CCAL dropped the Portugal call as the cargo loaded was heavy weighting causing a too deep draft for the port of Montreal which resulted in discharging some cargo Quebec City already what made this traffic unprofitable.
CCAL also operated oil tankers, but due to the 1973 oil crisis
1973 oil crisis
The 1973 oil crisis started in October 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo. This was "in response to the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military" during the Yom Kippur war. It lasted until March 1974. With the...
it converted an order for two new tankers into one for ice-strengthened 20,000 DWT multipurpose cargo ships: and which could also carry 2,000 tonnes of fruit per sailing in refrigerated holds. Additionally they could carry 400 TEU
Twenty-foot equivalent unit
The twenty-foot equivalent unit is an inexact unit of cargo capacity often used to describe the capacity of container ships and container terminals...
of containers
Containerization
Containerization is a system of freight transport based on a range of steel intermodal containers...
. These two vessels were the last new ships for A/S Thor Dahl and left the trade in the late 1990s due to increased maintenance costs and because the engines were not as fuel-efficient as in more modern vessels.
On 31 August 2000 a deal was closed between A/S Thor Dahl and CP Ships
CP Ships
CP Ships was a large Canadian container shipping company, prior to being taken over by Hapag Lloyd in late 2005. CP Ships had its head office in the City of Westminster in London and later in the City Place Gatwick development on the property of London Gatwick Airport in Crawley, West Sussex.The...
allowing CP to buy Christensen Canadian African Lines (CCAL). CCAL operated at this time a 21 day multi-purpose service between Eastern Canada, Great Lakes and South Africa, using three "Astrakhan" type vessels. CCAL had provided uninterrupted service for more than 50 years. CP Ships integrated CCAL into its Americana Ships division and merged it into the Lykes Lines brand. TUI AG
TUI AG
TUI AG is a German multinational travel and tourism company headquartered in Hanover. Until 2001 it was an industrial and transportation company named Preussag AG, which in the mid-1990s decided to reinvent itself as a tourism, shipping, and logistics company...
bought CP and merged in 2006 in Hapag-Lloyd
Hapag-Lloyd
Hapag-Lloyd is a German transportation company comprising a cargo container shipping line, Hapag-Lloyd AG, which in turn owns other subsidiaries such as Hapag-Lloyd Ships and a cruise line, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises which is now integrated into TUI AG, Hanover...
.
Ships
| Built | Name | Tonnage | Shipyard | Operated | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norden | chartered Danish vessel | ||||
| Valhall | timechartered for a southbound voyage in June 1948 | ||||
| 1948 | Thorscape | (ex Philae) - American-built vessel, abt. 6000 t.d.w | |||
| 1948 | Thorshall | Burntisland Shipbuilding Company Ltd, Scotland Scotland Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the... |
delivered November 1948 | ||
| 1949 | Thorstrand | Burntisland Shipbuilding Company Ltd, Scotland Scotland Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the... |
1949–1961 | delivered April 1949, 1961 sold to Poseidon Schiffahrt, Hamburg | |
| 1949 | Thorsisle | Burntisland Shipbuilding Company Ltd, Scotland Scotland Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the... |
1949–1966 | delivered June 1949, later transferred to Pacific Islands Transport Line, 1966 sold to Emil Offen & Co., Hamburg | |
| 1952 | Thorsgaard | A/S Bergens mek.Verksteder, Bergen Bergen Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , .... |
1952–1958 | 1958 transferred to Norse Oriental Line (NOL). Replaced by the new Thorshope; scrapped 1983 | |
| 1954 | Thorscape | A/S Bergens mek.Verksteder, Bergen Bergen Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , .... |
1954–1961 | 1961 transferred to Norse Oriental Line (NOL). | |
| 1955 | Thor I | A/S Bergens mek.Verksteder, Bergen Bergen Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , .... |
1955–1960 | 1960 transferred to Pacific Island Transport Lines | |
| Thorsdrott | name means "fruit" | ||||
| 1956 | Thorsdrake | Flender-Werke AG, Lübeck, Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... |
|||
| 1958 | Thorshope | Framnæs Mek.Værksted, Sandefjord Sandefjord is a city and municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Sandefjord. The municipality of Sandefjord was established on 1 January 1838... |
|||
| 1959 | Thorscarrier | Uddevallavarvet | |||
| 1959 | Thorsriver | Framnæs Mek.Værksted, Sandefjord Sandefjord is a city and municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Sandefjord. The municipality of Sandefjord was established on 1 January 1838... |
|||
| 1960 | Thorestream | Framnæs Mek.Værksted, Sandefjord Sandefjord is a city and municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Sandefjord. The municipality of Sandefjord was established on 1 January 1838... |
|||
| 1967 | Thorestream | Framnæs Mek.Værksted, Sandefjord Sandefjord is a city and municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Sandefjord. The municipality of Sandefjord was established on 1 January 1838... |
|||
| 1977 | Thorscape | Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. Mitsui is one of the largest corporate conglomerates in Japan and one of the largest publicly traded companies in the world.-History:Founded by Mitsui Takatoshi , who was the fourth son of a shopkeeper in Matsusaka, in what is now today's Mie prefecture... , Tamano Works |
2000 MT cooled cargo, 400 TEU containers, multipurpose cargo ship | ||
| 1978 | Thor I | Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. Mitsui is one of the largest corporate conglomerates in Japan and one of the largest publicly traded companies in the world.-History:Founded by Mitsui Takatoshi , who was the fourth son of a shopkeeper in Matsusaka, in what is now today's Mie prefecture... , Tamano Works |
2000 MT cooled cargo, 400 TEU containers, multipurpose cargo ship, last newbuilding |
External links
- Maritime Timetable images (Collection of old company brochures)