Italia Marittima


Italia Marittima S.p.A., from 1919 until 2006 called Lloyd Triestino, founded as Österreichischer Lloyd, is a shipping company with its head office in Trieste, Italy, and run by Evergreen Marine Corporation.

History

It was founded as Österreichischer Lloyd in 1836 and became one of the world's biggest shipping companies by managing most oversea trade and passenger travel of Austria-Hungary until 1918. The Austrian Lloyd was running regular services from Trieste to the Near East, India, China and the Far East, Brazil, the USA and Northern Europe. It also was one of the first to use steam ships.
The company's name was changed to Lloyd Triestino in 1919, when Trieste became a part of Italy. At this time, the company also faced major restructuring in order to recover losses incurred during World War I. By the end of the 1930s, Lloyd Triestino, with its offshoot Marittima Italiana, was once again a major world shipping power, owning a fleet of 85 vessels with 17 services to east Africa, southern Africa, Asia, and Australia. The company was crippled by the devastation of World War II in the 1940s. During the war, Lloyd Triestino lost 68 ships and 1,000 sailors. At the end, they were reduced to a fleet of just five ships and were once again faced with a massive recovery operation. By 1956, the Lloyd Triestino fleet had grown to 31 ships.
Lloyd Triestino entered into a partnership with Taiwanese shipping giant, Evergreen Marine, Corp., in 1993. This successful partnership has grown over the years, and now also includes Evergreen's British based line, Hatsu Marine Ltd., which was created in 2000.
On March 1, 2006, Lloyd Triestino's name was changed to Italia Marittima. Ship names are gradually being changed from the prefix "LT" to "Ital" to reflect this change.