The company Neptune Orient Lines began life in 1968 as Singapore’s national shipping line, wholly owned by the Singapore Government just as it was becoming clear that containerisation was the way of the future.
Today, NOL Group has grown to be a major force in global container transportation and logistics through our industry-leading container transport brand APL and our supply-chain management arm APL Logistics. We have more than 11,000 staff globally and transport more than two million forty-foot containers each year.
A key event in the life of our company was a 1997 merger which saw the coming together of two complementary leaders in the global supply chain. This combined the strengths of Singapore based NOL Group with APL (formerly American President Lines), a company with roots back to the early days of the United States’ rise as a global industrial power. As such, our heritage actually dates back to 1848 when APL’s first precursor was established. In 2008 our company will celebrate 160 years of life.
Going for goldAmerican entrepreneur William Henry Aspinall had the good fortune to found the Pacific Mail Steamship Company (later to become American President Lines) to work the Oregon to Panama mail run with his first vessel the S.S. California just in time to catch an explosion of demand following the discovery of gold in California.
Trialing a San Francisco to China run with its vessel The Colorado in 1867, the company went on to add US West Coast capabilities in the 1870’s and launch the first Far East service connecting California with Yokohama and Hong Kong in 1895.
By the 1940’s the company was nationalised for a period after expanding rapidly under the charismatic ownership of timber magnate Robert Dollar. It was re-named American President Lines just prior to the Second World War, which saw many of the vessels in the APL fleet in active wartime service. Further details on APL’s rich history are here Out of the boxAmerican President Lines was one of the first shipping lines in the world to sense the customer benefits of containerisation. In 1958 APL’s CEO Ralph Davies, an oil-man, ordered a fact-finding mission to 26 major ports to assess readiness for containers around the world. Despite a skeptical industry, around 25% of all APL cargoes in the Pacific were containerised a decade later, with the figure leaping to nearly 60% by 1973. The exponential growth in world trade that accompanied containerisation has remained a key growth driver for both APL and NOL. For more than 25 years world trade has been growing twice as fast as the world economy, fuelled by the growing trend towards global manufacturing.
Birth of NOL
On the other side of the Pacific, Neptune Orient Lines Limited was formed in December 1968 by the Singapore Government in an effort to develop and support the newly-independent Republic’s economy.
The company’s initial fleet of just five vessels faced tough competition from well-established players during those early days including large British and European consortia which had dominated the major trade routes since the 1820’s.
Against tremendous odds, NOL charted a path of growth – expanding into new trades with new services. By 1973 the company’s fleet was 20-strong and by the mid-1970s NOL had turned its first profit under the leadership of Managing Director Goh Chok Tong, who went on to become Singapore’s second Prime Minister.
In its early days NOL, as a young company, was not tied either to tradition or a large fleet of soon-to-be outmoded ships. Flexibility and creative thinking became the company’s hallmark.
The 1970s marked the true era of containerisation – an opportunity which NOL seized with investments in new purpose-built vessels. NOL entered the Asia-Europe trade as part of the ACE consortium with partners OOCL and K Line, while the company’s foray into the key Trans-Pacific trade began with a standalone service.
The company’s highly successful Initial Public Offering (IPO) in 1981 reflected a ‘coming of age’ for NOL, raising S$155 million to fuel further growth, expand the company and diversify ownership beyond the Singapore Government. As NOL continued to broaden its horizons around the world, it reinforced its position at home as one of Singapore’s leading corporates with the opening of a global headquarters, the NOL Building, in 1983.
The maturing NOL Group continued to grow landside capabilities to augment its liner business, and by the early 1990s had diversified into the lightering business with oil and petroleum product tankers – under the brands AET (American Eagle Tankers) and NAS (Neptune Associated Shipping).
Joining forcesPrior to joining forces with NOL, APL continued to build on its reputation for service innovation by investing strongly in ‘inter-modal’ capabilities - the seamless transfer of containerised shipments between ship, train, and truck.
APL grabbed superior transit times and reliability for customers and led the pack in visibility via tracking technology. Notably, in 1984 it introduced ‘stacktrain’ technology to double train capacity by stacking containers two-high on specially designed railcars. During the early 1990’s the company grew its liner network in China.
The coming together of NOL Group and APL in 1997 provided the critical mass to compete globally on the major container trades and also brought with it key terminal hubs in Asia and North America along with the valuable intermodal transport network in the US.
Following the merger, APL was adopted as the major container shipping brand for customers, while NOL remained as the holding company listed on the Singapore stock exchange and the well-known face of the company for investors.
The company’s capability at managing supply chains became an area of increasing focus. This saw APL Logistics established as a separate business unit in 2001, along with sustained investment in leading-edge IT systems and e-commerce tools to support the operating companies.
The company has supported customer trends towards ‘modularisation’ of manufacturing. Industries such as electronics and automotive have trained their suppliers to make standard components, such as car transmissions, or sub-assemblies that can be used in a range of products, allowing much greater flexibility and the ability to source materials from a range of production locations globally.
As part of this move to broaden and strengthen its container transportation services, NOL completed the divestment of its tankering businesses AET and NAS in 2003, to concentrate on the company’s core liner and logistics services.
The Singapore Government has been a strategic shareholder in the company from the time of NOL’s formation in 1968. As at November 2006 the shareholding of Singapore’s Government-owned investment company Temasek Holdings stood at 68% of NOL’s issued capital.
In recent years the burgeoning container trade from Asia – particularly China – has enabled NOL to pursue strategic growth and leverage the company’s expertise in Asia. With our strong global presence the Company has been well placed to service explosive growth in international trade flows.
NOL todayThe NOL Group’s brands, APL and APL Logistics, are leaders in the global container transportation industry with more than 11,000 employees providing services in over 140 countries. NOL is the largest shipping and transportation company listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX).
We are active in tackling a range of key issues in the global supply chain on behalf of our customers including changing security requirements, the increasing importance of China and India, challenges facing the Panama Canal and infrastructure-related congestion in North America.
As we move towards 2010 the company remains even more focused on the product-sourcing requirements and international transport needs of our global customer base.
Today, NOL Group has grown to be a major force in global container transportation and logistics through our industry-leading container transport brand APL and our supply-chain management arm APL Logistics. We have more than 11,000 staff globally and transport more than two million forty-foot containers each year.
A key event in the life of our company was a 1997 merger which saw the coming together of two complementary leaders in the global supply chain. This combined the strengths of Singapore based NOL Group with APL (formerly American President Lines), a company with roots back to the early days of the United States’ rise as a global industrial power. As such, our heritage actually dates back to 1848 when APL’s first precursor was established. In 2008 our company will celebrate 160 years of life.
Going for goldAmerican entrepreneur William Henry Aspinall had the good fortune to found the Pacific Mail Steamship Company (later to become American President Lines) to work the Oregon to Panama mail run with his first vessel the S.S. California just in time to catch an explosion of demand following the discovery of gold in California.
Trialing a San Francisco to China run with its vessel The Colorado in 1867, the company went on to add US West Coast capabilities in the 1870’s and launch the first Far East service connecting California with Yokohama and Hong Kong in 1895.
By the 1940’s the company was nationalised for a period after expanding rapidly under the charismatic ownership of timber magnate Robert Dollar. It was re-named American President Lines just prior to the Second World War, which saw many of the vessels in the APL fleet in active wartime service. Further details on APL’s rich history are here Out of the boxAmerican President Lines was one of the first shipping lines in the world to sense the customer benefits of containerisation. In 1958 APL’s CEO Ralph Davies, an oil-man, ordered a fact-finding mission to 26 major ports to assess readiness for containers around the world. Despite a skeptical industry, around 25% of all APL cargoes in the Pacific were containerised a decade later, with the figure leaping to nearly 60% by 1973. The exponential growth in world trade that accompanied containerisation has remained a key growth driver for both APL and NOL. For more than 25 years world trade has been growing twice as fast as the world economy, fuelled by the growing trend towards global manufacturing.
Birth of NOL
On the other side of the Pacific, Neptune Orient Lines Limited was formed in December 1968 by the Singapore Government in an effort to develop and support the newly-independent Republic’s economy.
The company’s initial fleet of just five vessels faced tough competition from well-established players during those early days including large British and European consortia which had dominated the major trade routes since the 1820’s.
Against tremendous odds, NOL charted a path of growth – expanding into new trades with new services. By 1973 the company’s fleet was 20-strong and by the mid-1970s NOL had turned its first profit under the leadership of Managing Director Goh Chok Tong, who went on to become Singapore’s second Prime Minister.
In its early days NOL, as a young company, was not tied either to tradition or a large fleet of soon-to-be outmoded ships. Flexibility and creative thinking became the company’s hallmark.
The 1970s marked the true era of containerisation – an opportunity which NOL seized with investments in new purpose-built vessels. NOL entered the Asia-Europe trade as part of the ACE consortium with partners OOCL and K Line, while the company’s foray into the key Trans-Pacific trade began with a standalone service.
The company’s highly successful Initial Public Offering (IPO) in 1981 reflected a ‘coming of age’ for NOL, raising S$155 million to fuel further growth, expand the company and diversify ownership beyond the Singapore Government. As NOL continued to broaden its horizons around the world, it reinforced its position at home as one of Singapore’s leading corporates with the opening of a global headquarters, the NOL Building, in 1983.
The maturing NOL Group continued to grow landside capabilities to augment its liner business, and by the early 1990s had diversified into the lightering business with oil and petroleum product tankers – under the brands AET (American Eagle Tankers) and NAS (Neptune Associated Shipping).
Joining forcesPrior to joining forces with NOL, APL continued to build on its reputation for service innovation by investing strongly in ‘inter-modal’ capabilities - the seamless transfer of containerised shipments between ship, train, and truck.
APL grabbed superior transit times and reliability for customers and led the pack in visibility via tracking technology. Notably, in 1984 it introduced ‘stacktrain’ technology to double train capacity by stacking containers two-high on specially designed railcars. During the early 1990’s the company grew its liner network in China.
The coming together of NOL Group and APL in 1997 provided the critical mass to compete globally on the major container trades and also brought with it key terminal hubs in Asia and North America along with the valuable intermodal transport network in the US.
Following the merger, APL was adopted as the major container shipping brand for customers, while NOL remained as the holding company listed on the Singapore stock exchange and the well-known face of the company for investors.
The company’s capability at managing supply chains became an area of increasing focus. This saw APL Logistics established as a separate business unit in 2001, along with sustained investment in leading-edge IT systems and e-commerce tools to support the operating companies.
The company has supported customer trends towards ‘modularisation’ of manufacturing. Industries such as electronics and automotive have trained their suppliers to make standard components, such as car transmissions, or sub-assemblies that can be used in a range of products, allowing much greater flexibility and the ability to source materials from a range of production locations globally.
As part of this move to broaden and strengthen its container transportation services, NOL completed the divestment of its tankering businesses AET and NAS in 2003, to concentrate on the company’s core liner and logistics services.
The Singapore Government has been a strategic shareholder in the company from the time of NOL’s formation in 1968. As at November 2006 the shareholding of Singapore’s Government-owned investment company Temasek Holdings stood at 68% of NOL’s issued capital.
In recent years the burgeoning container trade from Asia – particularly China – has enabled NOL to pursue strategic growth and leverage the company’s expertise in Asia. With our strong global presence the Company has been well placed to service explosive growth in international trade flows.
NOL todayThe NOL Group’s brands, APL and APL Logistics, are leaders in the global container transportation industry with more than 11,000 employees providing services in over 140 countries. NOL is the largest shipping and transportation company listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX).
We are active in tackling a range of key issues in the global supply chain on behalf of our customers including changing security requirements, the increasing importance of China and India, challenges facing the Panama Canal and infrastructure-related congestion in North America.
As we move towards 2010 the company remains even more focused on the product-sourcing requirements and international transport needs of our global customer base.
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