AJCL

Company History: The Australia Japan Container Line (AJCL) was formed in August 1968 by Overseas Container Lines (OCL) with Australia West Pacific Line (AWPL) and Associated Container Transportation Limited (ACT - a combination of Ben Line, Blue Star Line, Cunard (Port Line), Ellerman Lines and the Harrison Line).

The OCL stake in this group also included the historic partners China Navigation Co. and Eastern & Australan. In 1970, CNCo. chartered the Danish dry cargo vessel NANCHAN to AJCL - an arrangement that lasted 3 years until her sale. Thereafter AJCL operated two jointly-owned 1,150 TEU cellular container ships, ARIAKE and ARAFURA (II) in a consortium that also included some of the major Japanese lines.

In 1987, P&O bought out Ocean Transport"s 53% share in OCL and became P&O Containers. In 1991 the joint venture services covered by AJCL and AAE were amalgamated to become P&O Swire Containers (POSC) in which Swire's held 26%. POSC operated ARAFURA (II) in a consortium with ANL, Mitsui OSK (MOL), NYK and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K line), serving Australia to North and East Asia.

Successor/Parent History: P&O Swire Containers was a subsidiary of P&O. It was created to take over ownership of the ships acquired from AJCL.

Brief History: Australia is a country and continent surrounded by the Indian and Pacific oceans. Its major cities – Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide – are coastal. Its capital, Canberra, is inland. The country is known for its Sydney Opera House, the Great Barrier Reef, a vast interior desert wilderness called the Outback, and unique animal species like kangaroos and duck-billed platypuses.