Joseph Kahn (shipping executive)
Encyclopedia
Joseph Kahn was a shipping
industry executive who served as the chairman of Seatrain Lines
, an innovator in the way ships carried freight.
Kahn immigrated to the United States in 1930 from the Soviet Union
. Kahn enlisted in the United States Army
at the beginning of World War II
, ascending through the ranks from private to first lieutenant.
He had worked for Kahn Brother and Pinto, the family fur business, which he left in 1950 to start Transeastern Associates, which started with the purchase of a surplus World War II
-era Liberty ship
and had expanded into ownership of 36 bulk cargo carriers. Transeastern was created together with Howard Pack
, another furrier who was also looking to get out of the family fur business and start something new.
Both Kahn and Pack had been in the fur trade before turning to shipping, though they had not been associated in the fur business. Asked about the fur connection after their 1965 purchase of Seatrain, Kahn answered that "there may be a moral in this, but I don't know what it is".
In an April 1967 speech to the United States Merchant Marine Academy
alumni association, Kahn advocated for rules to benefit the domestic shipping industry, including retention of cabotage
laws that require domestic shipping be by ships owned and built in the United States and manned by American crews. He also pushed for a requirement that all foreign aid shipments be on American ships. that the United States Navy's Military Sea Transportation Service use American-flagged vessels exclusively and that at least half of oil imported into the United States be on American-flagged ships.
By the time of Kahn's death, Seatrain had expanded into shipbuilding, and had 3,000 employees and annual revenues of $250 million. Kahn served on the American Bureau of Shipping
's board of managers and was president of the American Maritime Association.
Kahn was a longtime critic of what he felt was a failure of the United States government to create a competitive merchant fleet sailing under the US flag. Kahn stated that the United States Navy
was mistaken in counting on the loyalty of foreign-owned ships to be available in case of an emergency. Kahn stated that the "United States is too big, too strong, too powerful not to have its own capability in the construction and manning of ships".
A resident of Manhattan
, Kahn died at University Hospital at age 63 on December 3, 1979 after a brief illness.
Shipping
Shipping has multiple meanings. It can be a physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo, by land, air, and sea. It also can describe the movement of objects by ship.Land or "ground" shipping can be by train or by truck...
industry executive who served as the chairman of Seatrain Lines
Seatrain Lines
Seatrain Lines was a shipping company most responsible for the introduction of the standard international intermodal container, most commonly high by 8 feet wide by long...
, an innovator in the way ships carried freight.
Kahn immigrated to the United States in 1930 from the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. Kahn enlisted in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
at the beginning of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, ascending through the ranks from private to first lieutenant.
He had worked for Kahn Brother and Pinto, the family fur business, which he left in 1950 to start Transeastern Associates, which started with the purchase of a surplus World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
-era Liberty ship
Liberty ship
Liberty ships were cargo ships built in the United States during World War II. Though British in conception, they were adapted by the U.S. as they were cheap and quick to build, and came to symbolize U.S. wartime industrial output. Based on vessels ordered by Britain to replace ships torpedoed by...
and had expanded into ownership of 36 bulk cargo carriers. Transeastern was created together with Howard Pack
Howard Pack
Howard Meade Pack , was a shipping industry executive who served as the chairman and president of Seatrain Lines, an innovator in the way ships carried freight....
, another furrier who was also looking to get out of the family fur business and start something new.
Both Kahn and Pack had been in the fur trade before turning to shipping, though they had not been associated in the fur business. Asked about the fur connection after their 1965 purchase of Seatrain, Kahn answered that "there may be a moral in this, but I don't know what it is".
In an April 1967 speech to the United States Merchant Marine Academy
United States Merchant Marine Academy
The United States Merchant Marine Academy is one of the five United States Service academies...
alumni association, Kahn advocated for rules to benefit the domestic shipping industry, including retention of cabotage
Cabotage
Cabotage is the transport of goods or passengers between two points in the same country by a vessel or an aircraft registered in another country. Originally starting with shipping, cabotage now also covers aviation, railways and road transport...
laws that require domestic shipping be by ships owned and built in the United States and manned by American crews. He also pushed for a requirement that all foreign aid shipments be on American ships. that the United States Navy's Military Sea Transportation Service use American-flagged vessels exclusively and that at least half of oil imported into the United States be on American-flagged ships.
By the time of Kahn's death, Seatrain had expanded into shipbuilding, and had 3,000 employees and annual revenues of $250 million. Kahn served on the American Bureau of Shipping
American Bureau of Shipping
The American Bureau of Shipping is a classification society, with a mission to promote the security of life, property and the natural environment, primarily through the development and verification of standards for the design, construction and operational maintenance of marine-related facilities...
's board of managers and was president of the American Maritime Association.
Kahn was a longtime critic of what he felt was a failure of the United States government to create a competitive merchant fleet sailing under the US flag. Kahn stated that the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
was mistaken in counting on the loyalty of foreign-owned ships to be available in case of an emergency. Kahn stated that the "United States is too big, too strong, too powerful not to have its own capability in the construction and manning of ships".
A resident of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, Kahn died at University Hospital at age 63 on December 3, 1979 after a brief illness.