A Century Of Experience

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32053, 30 July 1969, Page 12

A Century Of Experience

Although the British shipping company, C.N. Company, Ltd, cannot yet claim to be a centenarian, being established in 1872, it can draw on more than 100 years of experience from its Eastern managers, Butterfield and Swire—who were established in Shanghai on New Year’s Day, 1867.

Both companies belong to the Swire Group of companies headed by their parent, John Swire and Sons, London. The China Navigation Co.'s operational centre is in Hong Kong.

These 100 years have not been limited to shipping; they embrace the management and running of Cathay Pacific Airways with its modern Convair fleet operating throughout the Far East, ship building and repair, sugar refining, the manufacture of paint, soft drink bottling, dry and refrigerated land transport in Australia and many other activities. C.N.Co.’s beginnings were mainly in the China River and coastal trades, but its South Pacific connections began as far back as 1881 with services from Australia. Since those early days tC.N.Co. ships have grown

larger and faster, their trade has multiplied and cargo handling techniques become more sophisticated. The 1960 s have seen a growing involvement by C.N.Co. in New Zealand trade; and today C.N.Co., apart from pioneering the service which formed the basis for the N.Z.U.E. in conjunction with the large Japanese company MitsuiO.S.K. Lines, also provides regular sailings from New Zealand to Japan. Many New Zealanders will also have happy memories of cruises in C.N.Co.’s Kuala Lumpur, which has been giving cruises from New Zealand and Australia over the last eight years. More than Im tons of cargo each year are now carried by C.N.Co.’s fleet of 24 ships, totalling more than 158,000 gross registered tons at the beginning of 1969.

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