Seaborne mail in the history of Hapag-Lloyd
150 years ago, Hapag organised its own private postal Service in the Caribbean, for which it even had its own stamp – an exceptional case in the history of merchant shipping. Join us as we look back at some of the milestones in Hapag-Lloyd’s history of transporting mail by sea
Quality as the Brand's Core: The "Packetfahrt"
On 27 May 1847, a group of merchants in Hamburg founded a new shipping company. They had carefully chosen its name beforehand, as it was meant to provide direction: “Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft” – or Hapag, for short. The term Packetfahrt”
emphasised the special character of the company. At the time, it stood for the seaborne transport of mail, which was done using sturdy waterproof bags of oiled linen or leather tied up into what were known as “packets”. The founders aimed to establish a fast and reliable liner service across the Atlantic with solidly built and well-crewed ships, to which the postal authorities on both sides of the ocean would entrust their consignments. After all, the valuable mail cargo was only entrusted to those companies who met the highest standards to transport it via the perilous and unavoidable sea route. The plan worked, and the
“Packetfahrt”, as Hapag was known for a long time, made a name for itself as a liner shipping company with excellent service. In 1878, it was granted the privilege of using the name “Imperial German Mail” in front of its company name.
Floating Post Offices: The Hapag Mail Service in the Carribean
In the early 1870s, Hapag launched a service to a second trade – the Caribbean, which was then known as the West Indies. In 1874 – at the request of business partners there, who were not satisfied with the local postal services – Hapag obtained permission from the postal authorities of Germany and the states in question to set up its own postal service within the region and to introduce a special stamp for this purpose. Postage could be paid directly to the purser on board or to the local shipping company agents using the Hapag stamp, and the
Hamburg ships would then take the mail to its destination. This postal service worked to everyone’s satisfaction. However, in 1879, both the service and the Hapag stamp were discontinued after the countries of the Caribbean and Central America joined the Universal Postal Union, which improved the international circulation of mail thanks to standardisation. In 1925, Hapag gave away the last remaining supplies of its stamps to guests at a philatelic convention in Hamburg. Today, the Hapag stamp is a sought-after rarity among collectors.
Not much profit, but plenty of prestige
In 1885, the German Empire and North German Lloyd (NDL) concluded a contract for the latter to set up imperial mail steamship services to East Asia and Australia. The fact that the route and the sailing schedules were very strictly fixed resulted in higher operating costs, which in turn had to be offset by state subsidies. On 30 June 1886, the “Oder” became the first imperial mail steamer to set sail for Shanghai from Bremerhaven on a round voyage that would last more than three months. The ships flew the official German postal flag, which was reserved for ships sailing on an approved schedule. Even with the subsidies to offset expenses, the voyages were often not profitable – but NDL still gained prestige by operating the imperial mail steamship lines. With their reliable regularity, they improved the movement of goods, people and information among the continents.
Faster thanks to sorting at sea
To speed up transatlantic mail shipments, the postal administrations of Germany and the United States concluded an agreement in 1890 stipulating that officials from both countries should sort the mail in “seapost offices” on board ships during the crossing so that it could be forwarded immediately upon arriving at the port of destination. On 10 April 1890, North German Lloyd’s “Havel” was the first steamer to set sail for New York with 52,500 mail consignments on board.
Even faster with "Catapult Mail"
In June 1929, expectations were high for the maiden voyage of the “Bremen”, as it was hoped that the express steamer would bring back to Germany the prestigious Blue Riband, the unofficial award for the fastest westbound crossing of the North Atlantic. On top of that, there were plans to test a catapult system for launching mail planes. The compressed air system accelerated the aircraft to 100 kilometres per hour in 1.5 seconds, thereby giving it enough lift to stay airborne. Even though it had a much longer range, the seaplane was only launched 100 kilometres off the coast so as not to jeopardise the anticipated record of the“Bremen”. After a two-and-a-half-hour flight with 200 kilograms of mail on board, theplane was officially welcomed by the mayor of New York City the day before the “Bremen” arrived. Later, it was possible to extend the flights to a distance of 2,600 kilometres, which meant that the mail arrived in New York up to 72 hours earlier. However, the era of catapult mail already ended in 1935 owing to rapid technical advances in aviation.
Letters in Steel Boxes
Transporting mail by plane grew steadily in importance, but seaborne mail continued to play a role. Up until the 1980s, Hapag-Lloyd still had a seapost department, which also underscored the importance it attached to having the postal authorities as customers. By this time, containers had already been used for mail shipments for a long time, with letters and parcels being transported in steel boxes in all trades. The fact that this not only streamlined the transport of mail, but also reduced the risk of damage and theft, was very welcome. The growth of air traffic, the introduction of electronic means of communication, and the liberalisation and privatisation of postal services in many countries around the world resulted in additional shifts in the global transport of mail.
TEXT: FRANK GLASHOFF, EVA STUDANSKI, NIKLAS LAPPE
© Hapag-Lloyd AG