Welcome to the narrative history of APL. To make it easier for you to learn about the company and its forebears, we’ve used three major themes to organize information — Explore, Innovate, and Prosper.

In Explore, you’ll read about the fascinating events that led to the founding of APL’s earliest predecessor. Innovate focuses on the 20th century, an era of dramatic change for the transportation industry. And Prosper brings it all together by showing you how one company’s rich history has shaped the way international trade is conducted today. To get started, simply click on the theme you’re interested in.

If, during your own voyage of discovery, you’d like to jump over to the APL timeline to see a more abbreviated version of our history — and some wonderful illustrations and photographs of our many historical vessels — just use the bar at the top of each page to get there. The bar also includes a sitemap for this section and a link to the APL Home Page.