The Fleets

Thordén Rederierna / Thordén Lines AB / Finnish North America Line, 1926-1963

Gustaf B. Thordén was born in Uddevalla in 1894. After working in the office of Broström in Stockholm, he moved in 1920 to Helsinki, here he became involved in shipping and in 1922 became a part owner of his first ship. 1924 the shipping company and ship brokerage AB Suomi was started where Thordén was a partner. In 1926 Thordén took over the shipping business and the foundation was laid for Thordén Rederierna.

The business grew and both cargo ships and a tanker were owned. The cargo ships were a familiar sight in the North American harbours.

By World War II, there were 16 vessels in Thordén Finnish-flagged fleet. When it looked as if the Soviet Union would acquire control of Finland, Thordén chose to leave the country to re-settle in his childhood town of Uddevalla.
He tried in various ways get the companys' ships to Sweden, but managed only two ships registered in the Swedish register, and eventually one ship was seized by the U.S.A and another by Great Britain.
During the post-war years G.B. Thordén built up his shipping company operating in Sweden in parallel with its Finnish shipping business.

The company's name was changed in 1955 to the Finnish North America Line. In Uddevalla, he founded also Uddevalla shipyard by purchasing a complete American shipyard and shipped it in parts with his own vessels to Uddevalla.
Later the yard became in economic problems which forced Thordén shipping business to go bankrupt and in 1958 Thordén had to close the yard and two years later his Finnish shipping company went also in bankruptcy.
Gustaf B. Thordén died in 1963 in a boating accident in the archipelago of Gothenburg. At that time the Swedish fleet consisted of 11 vessels including 6 coastal ships and tugs. Of the remaining 5 cargo vessels, which were deposited in the North America traffic, three old ships were sold.
1965 bought Red AB Rex, Stockholm the remains of Thordén Lines including the two remaining vessels. The smaller vessels were continued by Gustav B. Thordén’s widow Clary for another few years, but in 1970, the last of these vessels were also sold.

Many thanks to Henk Jungerius and Ted Finch for their assistance in collecting this data. The following list was extracted from various sources. This is not an all inclusive list but should only be used as a guide. If you would like to know more about a vessel, visit the Ship Descriptions (onsite) or Immigrant Ship web site.

• Routes:
  • Philadelphia, Newport News and New York to Gothenburg, Malmo and Stockholm

Funnel & Flag: Fleet:

TheShipsList | Return to The Fleets

TheShipsList®™ - (Swiggum) All Rights Reserved - Copyright © 1997-present
These pages may be freely linked to but not duplicated in any fashion without written consent of .
Last updated: June 06, 2009 and maintained by and M. Kohli