OCEAN GROUP • Founded in Liverpool in 1865 as The
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Ocean Steam Ship Company, it pried its maritime trade as the Blue Funnel Line. During the two World Wars it lost 58 vessels to enemy action.
In 1956 Ocean was listed on the London Stock Exchange, and in 1968 McGregor, Swire Air Services ( MSAS was established as a joint venture with John Swire & Sons. By the early 1970s Ocean Inchcape had been established to serve the offshore industry, and
distribution and waste company Wm Cory & Son had been acquired. The company changed its name to Ocean Transport and Trading, and its deep-sea fleet grew to 88 vessels.
In the 1980s the company established its group headquarters in London and sold the last of its Blue Funnel ships. In the late 1980s the company withdrew from coal and fuel distribution and liner shipping. The acquisition of OSA Marine Services, with its fleet of 51 supply boats, followed. During the early 1990s its name was changed to Ocean Group plc and, after a rights issue raised £88m, the group's HQ was moved once again, this time to Bracknell.
There was a period of selloffs in the mid-1990s, but at the end of the decade there was a series of acquisitions, including those of Intexo, Marken, The Waste Company. Mercury, &wiling and AW Fenton. In 1998 the logistics businesses were brought together under the MSAS Global Logistics banner.