Lykes Brothers Steamship Company

Lykes Bros. Steamship Co., also called Lykes Lines, was a cargo shipping company acting from the beginning of the 20th century to 2005 having its main business in the trade to and from the United States.

History

In 1900 the sons of Dr. Howell Tyson Lykes started a shipping business by using a 109-foot, 75 ton three-masted schooner to ship cattle to Cuba as a replacement for herds which were wiped out in the Spanish-American War. The tradition of naming their ships after family members dates back to that time, when this schooner was named "Doctor Lykes" after their father. Three years later, an office was opened in Galveston, Texas, and Lykes began offering general cargo transportation between the US Gulf and Caribbean ports.

In 1922 the "Lykes Bros. Steamship Co." was set up as a separate company, owned by the Lykes Brothers. The seven brothers had been trading cotton, lumber and grain for years so owning their own ships was a natural extension of their operations. [The Story of Lykes, a publication of the Lykes Bros. Steamship Co., Inc.] During the 1920s Lykes began to range beyond the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean. Offices were opened in Europe, and routes were extended to the Mediterranean and Far East.

The 1930s saw Lykes acquiring 52 ships from Dixie and Southern States Lines, giving them a fleet of 67 ships. After passage of the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, they committed themselves to the replacement of their fleet with modern freighters. Sixteen had been delivered by December 1941, when the US entered World War II. During the war, Lykes carried 60 million tons of cargo and operated a maximum of 125 cargo ships for the government. 22 ships were lost along with 272 lives.

During the postwar years, Lykes returned to commercial activity. By the 1950s, it had a fleet of 54 ships totaling 568,978 deadweight tons. That fleet underwent a complete replacement between 1960 and 1973, when 41 new ships were built.

By then, Lykes steamship had become a subsidiary of Lykes Corp., which in 1978 merged with LTV Corp. In 1983 Lykes Bros. Steamship Co., Inc. was purchased by Interocean Steamship Corp., a Florida corporation whose stockholders included descendants of the original seven Lykes brothers.

With the start of containerization, Lykes was soon participating, becoming a container carrier in the trade lanes of the United States East and Gulf coasts, North Europe, the United Kingdom, the Mediterranean region, Mexico and Africa. Being registered in the U.S., the company had the privilege of being allowed to transport cargo for the U.S. Army.

In December 1995 the company's headquarter in Tampa, Florida was opened at 401 East Jackson Street. Formerly, the headquarters was located in New Orleans, Louisiana. In July 1997 Lykes Lines was acquired by CP Ships out of bankruptcy. In the following years, CP Ships integrated the services of Ivaran Lines which they bought up in May 1998 and Christensen Canadian African Lines (CCAL) which was acquired in August 2000 into the Lykes Lines brand.

In late 2005 the Lykes Lines brand was replaced by the CP Ships brand following CP's one brand strategy promoted by the "One brand - One team" project. CP Ships itself was bought up by TUI AG and merged in mid 2006 in the Hapag-Lloyd organization.

Awards

*IFW Shipping Line of the Year award
*CIFFA award for Best Service to Africa
*Lloyd's Loading List award for Fastest Transit Times on the North Atlantic

In literature

The shipping company is referred to in the Tom Clancy novel "Red Storm Rising".

International identifiers

SCAC Code: LYKL
Operator Code: LYK
BIC Codes (Container prefixes): LYKU, LYTU

Vessels

*SS "Cape Mohican"
*SS "West Cobalt"
*USS "Hamul"
*USS "Lenoir"
*USS "Libra"
*USS "Pollux"
*USS "Valencia"

Lykes also used LASH (Lighter aboard ship) vessels.

References

* [http://www.bic-code.org/ Bureau International des Containers] (Container prefix codes, now linking Lykes units to Hapag-Lloyd due to the merger)
* CP Ships: Press release - [http://www.hapag-lloyd.com/en/pr/23790.html CP Ships Adopts a Single Brand] , 28. April 2005
* EDGAR Online: [http://sec.edgar-online.com/2004/09/07/0000905148-04-003890/Section3.asp CP Ships Limited - Revised 2003 Annual Information Form] , 07. September 2004
* Lykes Lines: [http://www.lykeslines.com Official website] - page offline - please refer to [http://www.hapag-lloyd.com/en/company/about_us.html History of CP Ships]
* [http://www.smdg.org/ SMDG Group] (Carrier codes for EDIFACT messages, now having replaced Lykes Lines with Hapag-Lloyd due to the merger)

ee also

*CP Ships
*Hapag-Lloyd

External links

* [http://www.timetableimages.com/maritime/images/lykes.htm Maritime Timetable images] (Collection of old company brochures)