Enthusiasts who collect historical postcards are well acquainted with the Argentinian shipping company `Empresa Lineas Maritimas Argentinas´ (ELMA). Among the well known vessels of the company, there are the `Lake Alumié´, the `Admiral Stewart´, and the `Teuco River´. The state-owned company arose in 1962 in the course of the merger of `Merchant Fleet´ and `Fleet Navigation Overseas Argentina´.
The “Empresa Lineas Maritimas Argentinas” took care of the passenger transport between Buenos Aires, Amsterdam, Vigo, and Hamburg. Another bunch of routes connected Rio de Janeiro, Lisbon, Las Palmas, and Genoa. From 1950 to 1960 there was even a line to New York. The route to Genoa found its end in 1969. Passenger transport to London ended in 1967. After that, the ships transported merchandise in the first place. ELMA’s fleet played an important role in Argentina’s foreign trade until the 1990s. The Argentinean president Carlos Menem’s state reforms put an end to ElMA’s long-standing history in 1990.
Yet, ELMA had been a great company that had commissioned up to 60 vessels on its many lines.