| Industry | Maritime transport |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1919 |
| Defunct | 1982 |
| Successor | Crowley Maritime |
| Headquarters | Seattle, Washington |
Area served | Gulf of Mexico, South America and cargo only West Africa |
| Services | Cargo and Passengers Liners |
Mississippi Shipping Company (also called Delta Line) of New Orleans, Louisiana was a passenger and cargo steamship company founded in 1919. In 1961 officially changed its name to the Delta Line. The Mississippi Shipping Co. serviced port from the Gulf of Mexico and east coast of South America. The Mississippi Shipping Co. was formed to support coffee merchants and Brazilian produce to New Orleans and up the Mississippi River. competing with the New York City trade. Delta Line failed to upgrade to container ships and modernize as other shipping lines did in the 1970s. In 1982, Delta Line, now owned by the Holiday Inn Corporation sold the line to Crowley Maritime. Crowley was the largest US barge and tugboat operator at the time. Crowley started to modernize the ships on the route, but sold the shipping line to the United States Lines in 1985. United States Lines brought some of the ships into its routes but went bankrupt in 1986. At its peak in 1949, the Mississippi-Delta line owned 14 ships with a total of 98,000 gross register tonnage. Delta Line also moved into passenger cruise with to ship.[clarification needed] During World War II the Mississippi Shipping Company was active with charter shipping with the Maritime Commission and War Shipping Administration. During wartime, the Mississippi Shipping Company operated Victory ships, Liberty ships, and a few Empire ships.[1][2][3][4]