The company was founded in 1825 as ship-brokers by two brothers, William Thomson (1806–1889) and Alexander Thomson (1795–1880). Their sister Jemima married Thomas Henderson, an older brother of Patrick Henderson. Originally the Thomson brothers were "merchants and marble-cutters" and were involved in importing
Carrara marble from
Leghorn, Italy, with help from Thomas Henderson. Their first ship in 1839 was the barque
Carrara of 218 tons, built at
Limekilns in Fife and used on the Leith–Leghorn run. The marble business declined in the 1830s, and with Alloa cousins Capt Watson Thomson with his nephew Andrew Thomson and William Mitchell, they acquired in 1840 for £3,500 the wooden ship
Australia of 388 tons, built on the
Tyne in 1825. She was used on the North Atlantic trade, carrying Alloa coal to Canada, and returning with timber to Leith, and was lost on
Sable Island on the approaches to the
St. Lawrence River in 1841. But the North Atlantic trade, carrying coal from
William Mitchell’s
Alloa Coal Company to Canada and returning with timber to Leith, was a Thomson staple business for years. Several sailing ships acquired in the 1840s were built in Canada. A ship purchased by the Edinburgh brothers and their cousins Captain Watson Thomson and Andrew Thomson in 1848 was the
Signet which would in 1852/1853 venture to Australia. In the 1850s, the earliest ship to use the 'Ben' prefix (the Scottish word for mountain) was the
Bencleuch, launched in 1853. The Thomsons and Mitchells moved into longer and more profitable routes to Australia (the
Wanderer and
Signet) and the Far East (initially the
Araby Maid 1)
, purchasing nine larger sailing ships in the 1860s, including the iron ship
James Wishart. The Far Eastern ships sailed to China and Japan via a base in Singapore, including the China tea trade. Their first (brig-rigged) steamship,
Benledi of 1,557 tons gross was built in Glasgow at
Barclay Curle Clydeholm shipyard. Two steamers,
Petersburg and
Stirling, were acquired in 1877 for the Baltic trade. William Thomson appointed
Killick Martin & Company agents for Ben Line Steamers in 1883, and within a few weeks loaded their first ship
Benarty in Antwerp. Between 1902 and 1914,
Bartram & Sons of
Sunderland built nine ships for Ben Line, whose captains nicknamed them "North Country
kerosene cans".
1914 to 1919 By 1914 Ben Line had 14 ships with names starting with "Ben", plus five Baltic steamers of The St Petersburg Steamers, Ltd. Two Ben Line ships were sunk by enemy action and
Benlarig disappeared in 1917. In April 1919 The Ben Line Steamers, Ltd was formed as a private company. Previously each ship voyage was a separate actuarial entity, with shareholders holding large or small numbers of 1/64 shares. A new trade was the carriage of
soya beans from the port of
Vladivostok to European ports. New ships were built by
Charles Connell and Company of Glasgow. No Ben Line ship was laid up during the depression.
World War II During World War II, 14 Ben Line ships and four ships placed under Ben Line management by the Government were lost compared with only two in World War I. Ships managed by the Ben Line included two MAC or
Merchant Aircraft Carrier ships,
Empire MacAlpine and
Empire MacKendrick. The MAC ships carried
Fairey Swordfish biplanes as well as cargo. In 1943 the company headquarters was moved from Leith to Edinburgh.
1950 to 1972 Postwar the line concentrated on the Far East trade, with a base in Singapore from 1951. In 1953 an underwater formation in the coasts off North Borneo was named "Benrinnes Reef" after the ship that discovered it. Between 1950 and 1972, Ben Line continued to develop its liner services between Europe and the Far East, operating fast, custom-built 'tween deck vessels. Ben Line pioneered a number of new trade routes, and became one of the leading liner companies in the trade. From 1970 to 1982 the line came under the Chairmanship of
Michael Strachan. In 1972 Ben Line Ship Management Ltd was formed to offer a comprehensive range of ship management services to smaller owners, providing them with guidance from knowledge that Ben Line had gained over the years.
1973 to 1974 In 1973 The company's first three container ships, each with a capacity of 3,000 TEUs and a deadweight of 50,000 tons, were delivered. These ships operated within the 17 strong fleet of a three-nation consortium (the Trio Group) made up of Ben Line,
Hapag-Lloyd,
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL),
Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) and
Overseas Containers Ltd (OCL) all engaged in the Far East trade. The company also entered the bulk trades by purchasing both dry bulk vessels and chemical tankers. In 1974 The company diversified into offshore oil exploration by forming a partnership with an American firm, Ocean Drilling and Exploration Co (
ODECO), an experienced operator. The joint company, which was called Ben Odeco, owned and operated semi-submersible rigs, jack-up rigs and drill ships.
1977 to 1991 By 1977 The Ben Line Group employed over 2,000 shore-based and sea-going staff, and owned a fleet of four container ships, 13 cargo liners, three chemical tankers, six bulk carriers, and five rigs and drill ships. In addition, three oil tankers and one container carrier were managed on behalf of other owners. Furthermore, through the purchase of another company, it owned seven other vessels and became Britain's biggest offshore drilling contractor.
Benreoch made history in 1984 as being the heaviest semi-submersible drilling rig (17,200 tons) to be transported on board a semi-submersible carrier, voyaging some 14,000 miles from New Zealand to Spain. In 1987 a strategic decision to start actively seeking outside shipping agency principals to complement the in-house core business activity of container liner shipping – Ben Line Agencies was established. In 1991 the remaining ships were sold, and the company combined with the
East Asiatic Company of Copenhagen. ==Ben Line Agencies (1992 onward)==