Blue Star

By Ian Farquhar

Blue Star Line was originally owned by the brothers William and Edmund Vestey, members of a family of Liverpool grocers. Responding to the development of refrigeration technology, they built up a worldwide food importation business, particularly frozen Chinese eggs and poultry. Blue Star Line was registered on 28 July 1911, its vessels carrying imported frozen meat from South America, particularly Argentina. The line was part of a larger financial empire including retail outlets and cold stores. In 1925 the company entered the South American passenger trade.

Although Blue Star Line association with New Zealand is generally thought to have commenced in 1933 after the Ottawa Conference, the Company did have a brief foray into the carriage of frozen meat in 1920-21. During World War 1, the British Government contracted to purchase all the meat that New Zealand could produce, as well as dairy produce, wool, hides, sheepskins and scheelite. After the war ended there was a significant quantity of surplus meat lying in cool stores and on 2nd October 1920 it was announced that the Vesty Brothers had purchased the entire stock of meat then stored in Australia and New Zealand. The size of the transaction caused a flutter amongst the meat industry as there was an over supply of meat in British cool-stores at the time. Most of the surplus was quarter beef and the new owner elected to ship the meat to United Kingdom in ships of the Blue Star Line.

The first ship to arrive in New Zealand was Albionstar (1919, 7920grt) at Auckland on 26 October 1920. The ships names were spelt as one word at this time. Southbound she carried a cargo of coal from Norfolk, Virginia for New Zealand Railways. The Stuartstar (1898, 5715grt) followed with a cargo of coal for Gisborne and then loaded 26,000 quarters of beef  at Lyttelton as well as wool and oats before sailing direct for Bristol on 16 March 1921. The Stuartstar was described in a newspaper at the time as something of a "has been" because she was slow and invariably had sails set at sea to improve speed. She had previously been in New Zealand as the Wakanui of the New Zealand Shipping Company.  

Vikingstar (1919, 6445grt), Normanstar (1919, 6817grt) and Royalstar (1919, 7900grt) also loaded in New Zealand the final departure from Wellington on 2nd June 1921. The ships loaded at a wide range of ports including Whakatane, Auckland, Napier, New Plymouth, Wanganui, Wellington, Lyttelton, Port Chalmers and Bluff. Apart from the 6629grt Admiral Codrington which the Poverty Bay Farmers Meat Company purchased in 1920 to carry the company's own frozen produce from Gisborne, this was the first occasion that frozen meat to United Kingdom was shipped in vessels other than Shaw Savill & Albion,  New Zealand Shipping Company or Commonwealth and Dominion Line. The Admiral Codrington made three disastrous voyages to Britain with Gisborne meat but in reality there was insufficient livestock in the Gisborne area to support three freezing works and Nelson Bros., then controlled by Vesty Brothers, purchased the virtually bankrupt Gisborne works in 1923.

After the war New Zealand farmers were worried that overseas meat trusts and shipping companies would dominate the New Zealand trade and urged the Government to protect their interests. As a result the NZ Meat Producers Board, owned by farmers, was established in 1922. A Dairy Board was also set up in 1924.  Both Boards had very wide powers and full authority to negotiate all the contracts for the shipments of meat and dairy cargoes. The three British Lines who had worked together during World War 1 moved in 1920 to sign a conference agreement. Effective from 1st January 1021, and known forever as the BENMACOW agreement after the names managers Benson  from Commonwealth & Dominion, Macmillan of Shaw Savill & Albion and Cowan of NZ Shipping Company. It remained in place for the next 70 years. The cargo split between the three lines was NZ Shipping Company 42.5%, Shaw Savill & Albion 35%, and Commonwealth & Dominion 22.5%.   

After the Ottawa Conference, Blue Star shipping operations were extended to Australia and New Zealand. The Benmacow agreement was altered to give Blue Star Line a 10% share of the cargo which increased progressively until 1954 when the became 18% with the other companies then NZS 32%, SS&A 27.75% and Port Line 22.25%.

The first ship to New Zealand after the changed agreement was Tuscan Star which sailed from Wellington on 2nd December 1933 with a full load of frozen meat. The Blue Star Line was, however, only admitted to the Conference Lines for homeward sailings, and cargoes brought out by their vessels from the United Kingdom were for other lines. It was not until 1958 that they were finally admitted.

The Booth Steamship Co. Ltd was purchased in 1946 and in 1967 the South American trade of Donaldson Lines.

In 1968 Blue Star Port Lines Management was formed in order to rationalize the two companies' Australasian services. The company was sold to P&O Nedlloyd in 1998, including its name and livery. The last Blue Star vessel America Star was broken up in 2003.

For more inforamtion http://www.bluestarline.org