CP Ships was a large Canadian container shipping company that was purchased by Hapag Lloyd in late 2005. CP Ships had its head office in the City Place Gatwick development on the property of London Gatwick Airport in Crawley, West Sussex. The Company was a part of the Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. conglomerate. It was spun out as a separate company in 2001. In 2005, it was purchased by TUI AG and is now part of the company's Hapag-Lloyd division.
The Company moved to a model of container shipping from passenger, freight and mail service in the 1960s due to competitive pressure from the airline industry. The Company from the late 1880s until after WWII was Canada's largest operator of Atlantic and Pacific Steamships. Large numbers of immigrants travelled on CP ships from Europe to Canada. The sinking of the steamship RMS Empress of Ireland is noted for being the largest maritime disaster in Canadian history. The Company also provided Canadian Merchant Navy vessels in both WWI and WWII. Twelve vessels were lost due to enemy action in WWII including the largest ship sunk by a German U-Boat.
Read more about CP Ships: Notable Captains, Corporate Timeline
Famous quotes containing the word ships:
“Give blue-eyed men their swivel chairs
To whirl in tall buildings.
Allow them many ships at sea,
And on land, soldiers
And policemen.”
—Arna Bontemps (1902–1973)