CHILEAN LINE’S THREE LITTLE MOTOR SHIPS
Compañía Sud-Americana de Vapores, the Chilean Line, was founded in 1872 as a Chilean national company to compete with the foreign operators which were monopolising the coast of Chile. The first years of the entrepreneurial venture focused on cabotage, and soon several ships were ordered. It was not long before the Chilean Line expanded to the whole of the west coast of South America.
The company’s operations were threatened in 1929 by the Great Depression, and between 1930 and 1932 the company nearly went bankrupt. After a complete reorganisation, however, the recovery began, with a fresh start under the leadership of Raúl Rivera Blin, a former sailor who had become the director of the company and who mapped out an ambitious expansion programme.
The Chilean Minister of Finance, Gustavo Ross, assisted Rivera with his plan to have three motor ships built, securing financial help from the Bank of Chile (Banco de Chile). The ships, each of 7,000gt and with a top speed of 17 knots, had capacity for 160 passengers, with refrigerated cargo holds for fruit to be exported to Europe.
In May 1936 the Junta de Exportación Agrícola (Agricultural Export Board) granted the
