Line again withdrew from the competition. City of Rio de Janeiro was sold to the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. In 1883 the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies awarded the Brazil Line a subsidy large enough to compete with Lamport and Holt. In 1890 the Brazil Line introduced two new ships. But UK-owned merchant houses, warehouses, insurers and banks supported Lamport and Holt, and the Brazil Line went bankrupt in 1893. Societé de Navigation Royale Belge Sud-Americaine Since 1866 Lamport and Holt had traded with Antwerp and in 1877 they won a Belgian government mail contract to and from Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina. The contract required all ships on the service to be registered in Belgium, so Lamport and Holt founded a Belgian subsidiary, Societé de Navigation Royale Belge Sud-Americaine. In 1877 the steamship Copernicus was transferred from the LB&RP SN Co to the new company and its registration transferred to Antwerp. In 1878 seven other LB&RP steamships followed. Lamport and Holt's Belgian operation continued until 1908. As the initial Royal Belge Sud-Americaine fleet came due for replacement, Lamport and Holt tended to replace its ships with others second-hand from LB&RP. The Galileo, built in 1873, was transferred in 1886. The Leibnitz, also built in 1873, was transferred in 1889. The Maskelyne and Hevelius, both built in 1874, were also transferred in 1889. The Coleridge, built in 1875, was transferred in 1890. Argentine Steam Lighter Co Ltd In 1884 Lamport and Holt formed another subsidiary, the Argentine Steam Lighter Co Ltd, to run a feeder cargo service in the River Plate. Its vessels ranged from to . They were registered in Liverpool but their survey port was Montevideo or Buenos Aires. The company operated until about 1900. The lighter company's first ship was the Amadeo, built in Liverpool in 1884. In 1892 she was sold to Chilean owners and re-registered in Punta Arenas. In the 1930s she was beached at San Gregorio in the Strait of Magellan. Her rusting hulk survives there to this day. Further growth In 1888 Lamport and Holt had a fleet of 50 ships totalling . In 1890 its number of ships peaked at 59, totalling . Thereafter the number of ships declined but the average tonnage per ship increased and so did the total tonnage of the fleet. In the 1890s three new partners joined Lamport and Holt: George Holt's nephew George Melly, Charles Jones' son Sidney