![]() ![]() However, as war in Europe had already erupted, plans changed and they were to be used on the run to California. Cleverly, their names began with the letters N, Y and K: Nitta Maru, Yawata Maru and Kasuga Maru. Both were subsequent wartime casualties.Īt about the same time, in the early 1940s, NYK was building a handsome trio for their Japan-Suez Canal-Europe run. They were later bought by the Japanese Navy and re-designed as the big aircraft carriers Junyo and Hiyo respectively. But then, as war clouds in the Pacific gathered, work stopped. Their keels were laid and their names selected: Kasiwara Maru and Idzumo Maru. Intended to carry as many as 890 passengers each, they were to be exceptionally fast ships as well, with top speeds of well over 25 knots. In 1939, the company ordered twin, 27,000-ton luxury ships, which would have been magnificent in every way. Within ten years, however, NYK decided on larger, finer ships for the competitive Pacific run to California. Their first-class accommodations were especially fine and attracted such notable passengers as Albert Einstein, Charlie Chaplin and his wife Paulette Goddard, Helen Keller and Efrem Zimbalist. They were three stately ships, which had abundant Japanese atmosphere. There were highly polished woods, stained glass skylights, fine dining rooms, lounges, a library, a gift shop, hair salon, comfortable cabins, and a swimming pool on deck. Their passenger areas were of the highest quality, much of it in traditional European style. Fares by the late 1930s started from $190 in second class and from $315 in first class. Yokohama to San Francisco, for example, took 15 days. They were routed on NYK’s premier express service, regularly sailing between Hong Kong, Shanghai, Ko- be, Yokohama, Honolulu, Los Angeles and San Francisco. At some 17,000 tons, they were then-traditional class-divided ships, and had provision for cargo as well as the all-important mails. They were Japanese-designed and built, coming from the renowned Mitsubishi shipyard. One of NYK’s proudest periods in passenger shipping was the 1929 building of three of the finest and most luxurious ocean liners ever to sail the Pacific – Asama Maru, Chichibu Maru and Tatsuta Maru. The company has pioneered in shoreside cargo handling systems as well. More specialized ships such as gas carriers, coal carriers and heavy lift ships followed. These same cherry trees line the banks of the Potomac to this day.Īlong with a steady stream of ocean liners, passenger-cargo combination ships and freighters of many types, NYK built the first Japanese “super tanker” in 1959, then some of the world’s first container cargo ships in the 1960s, some of the first large car carriers at the same time, and highly specialized designs like the world’s first “wood chip carrier” in 1964. A decade later, in 1911, an NYK freighter delivered the first cargo of trans-Pacific cherry tree saplings, a gift from the City of Tokyo to Washington, D.C. In 1901, just sixteen years after their formation, they already ranked as the seventh-largest shipping company in the world. service in 1896 (the first arrival was met at Seattle with a 21-gun salute). Historically, NYK Line opened the first regular Japan-U.S. As a worldwide logistics company, NYK Line now operates more than 800 ocean cargo ships including large container ships, car carriers and huge tankers, warehousing services and logistics, forwarders and consolidators, plus land and air transportation services. NYK Line grew and grew – their accomplishments, advances and overall success have been nearly continuous. (for Royal Mail Ship) used by the most prominent British liners. The affixation was similar to the designation R.M.S. Their subsequent passenger ships were given government-authorized mail-carrying status and therefore the highest priorities. In due course, NYK Line became Japan’s national shipping company. ![]() Two red stripes were adopted for the new company’s house flag, symbolizing the mutual goodwill of both companies and the hope that their combined fleets would one day serve the entire world. Nippon Yusen Kaisha, which literally translates to the Japan Mail Steamship Company, was first created in 1885, the result of a sensible merger between two Japanese shipping companies, Yubin Kisen Mitsubishi Kaisha (Mitsubishi Mail Steamship Company) and Kyodo Unyu Kaisha (Union Transport Company). Throughout this time, the ships of Nippon Yusen Kaisha, the NYK Line, parent company of Crystal Cruises, have proudly worn these same red stripes on their funnels. This marking carries on a proud sea-going tradition, which goes back more than a hundred years. ![]() ![]() OBSERVANT GUESTS ON BOARD Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity will notice the thick red lines painted on the radar mast. Viking Ocean Cruises and the “stockfish-ships".SS France - Trans Atlantic Service and Cruises. ![]()
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