p&o (in full,  the peninsular and oriental steam navigation company) is a british shipping and logistics company dating from the early 19th century.formerly a public company, it was sold to dp world in march 2006 for £3.9 billion.dp world currently operate several p&o branded businesses, p&o ferries, istithmar p&o estates, and p&o maritime logistics.it also operates p&o heritage, which is the official historic archive and collection of p&o.p&o cruises was sold in 2000, and is now owned and operated by carnival corporation & plc.the former shipping business, p&o nedlloyd, was bought by and is now part of maersk line.in 1835, dublin shipowner captain richard bourne joined the business, and the three men chartered the william fawcett and started a regular steamer service between london and spain and portugal – the iberian peninsula – using the name peninsular steam navigation company, with services to vigo, oporto, lisbon and cádiz.as the peninsular and oriental steam navigation company was incorporated in 1840 by a royal charter its name therefore included neither 'plc' nor 'limited'.the company flag colours are directly connected with the peninsular flags: the white and blue represent the portuguese flag in 1837, and the yellow and red the spanish flag.at the height of the carlist wars the british lent their support to the legitimate heirs of spain and portugal and all three of p&o founders played their part, from gun running to chartering steamers.as a consequence of this association and involvement p&o officers are some of the few merchant navy officers entitled to wear swords, alongside the likes of trinity house.in 1837, the business won a contract from the british admiralty to deliver mail to the iberian peninsula and in 1840 they acquired a contract to deliver mail to alexandria in egypt.brindisi, italy was added to the route in the 1870s.p&o first introduced passenger services in 1844, with a leisure cruise departing from southampton to the mediterranean.these voyages were the first of their kind and the forerunner of modern cruise holidays.the company later introduced round trips to destinations such as alexandria and constantinople and underwent rapid expansion in the later half of the 19th century, with its ships becoming larger and more luxurious.one particularly notable ship of the era was the ss ravenna, built in 1880, which became the first ship to be built with a total steel superstructure.in 1847, shortly after the opium war, p&o entered the opium trade; shipping 642,000 chests of bengal and malwa opium in the next eleven years.they faced stiff competition from the incumbent shippers, jardines and the apcar line.in 1914, it took over the british india steam navigation company, which was then the largest british shipping line, owning 131 steamers.in 1918, it gained a controlling interest in the orient line, its partner in the england-australia mail route.further acquisitions followed and the fleet reached a peak of almost 500 ships in the mid-1920s.in 1920, the company also established a bank, p&o bank, that it sold to chartered bank of india, australia and china (now standard chartered bank) in 1927.at this time it established a commercial relationship with spinney's of haifa, that developed into a major regional high-end grocery store chain, which eventually provided shipping services access to much of the middle east.until 1934 it operated liners from key west, florida to havana; then it operated from miami to cuba until 1960.in 1932, p&o expanded their passenger operations to australia, with the introduction of strathaird, which departed on a cruise to brisbane and norfolk island.eighty-five of the company's ships were sunk in the first world war and 179 in the second world war.
schizogregarinae | lards | nonmonarchal
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