Routes and Trade
With the concessions of Chile, Peru, and Bolivia secured and with capital from investors like Peter Campbell Scarlett, the PSNC was officially launched, becoming one of the first Liverpool-based shipping companies to obtain a Royal Charter. The most important provision of the company’s prospectus was that all British trade was to be carried out by steam. In fact, investors had already begun discussing a line of steam packets between England and the West Indies. The government further realized that British trade network could be expanded if transatlantic routes were connected to PSNC routes along the west coast of South America. Therefore, in 1840, the British government provided financial support to enable transportation of mails monthly between Valparaiso and Panama. This service, in turn, was linked to Europe through the Royal Mail, with a route from Southampton to the Isthmus and from there overland to the Pacific.
A brief timeline of the PSNC's routes appears below. This is not an inclusive list; for fuller information, see here.
- 1843-1923 Valparaiso - Coastal Ports - Callao.
- 1846-1923 Valparaiso - Callao - Guayaquil - Panama.
- 1848-1923 Valparaiso - South Chilean Ports (terminal: Puerto Montt).
- 1868-19?? Liverpool - Bordeaux - Lisbon - Cape Verde - Rio de Janeiro - Montevideo - Punta Arenas - Valparaiso (from 1870) - Arica - Mollendo - Callao.
- 1877-1879 Liverpool - Bordeaux - Buenos Aires.
- 1904-1920 Liverpool - La Pallice - Corunna - Vigo - Lisbon - Recife - Salvador - Rio de Janeiro - Montevideo - Buenos Aires - Port Stanley - Punta Arenas - Coronel - Talcahuano - Valparaiso.
- 1914-1945 Cristobal - Panama Canal - Champerico.
- 1920-1930 New York - Panama Canal - Callao - Valparaiso.
- 1920-1931 New York - Guayaquil.
- 1920-1959 Liverpool - Bermuda - Bahamas - Havana - Jamaica - Panama Canal - West Coast of South America ports - Valparaiso.
- 1920-1937 Montevideo - Port Stanley (Falkland Islands)
- 1955-1970 Bermuda - Caribbean ports - Panama.
- 1956-1963 (REINA DEL MAR) Liverpool - La Pallice - Santander - Corunna (1961 Vigo) - Bermuda - Nassau - Havana - Kingston - La Guaira - Curacao - Cartagena - Panama Canal - La Libertad - Callao - Arica - Antofagasta - Valparaiso.
- 1963- Cargo services to Caribbean and South American ports.
British trade with Latin America proliferated between 1865 and the eve of World War I. Due to consistent efforts to build steam navigation via the Isthmus of Panama and around Cape Horn, Chile, Brazil and Argentina became the largest South American economies to trade with Britain, exporting minerals, cereals, beef, and coffee, while importing manufactured goods like textiles. Chile became the primary beneficiary of trade with Britain through Wheelwright’s endeavours.
References:
Pacific Steam Navigation Company, "Time Table of the Steamers Between Panama, Guayaquil, Payta, Callao, Valparaiso, and Intermediate Ports," Valparaiso and West Coast Mail, vol. 7 (Valparaiso, Chile), March 29, 1873. Accessed July 23, 2020.
Ortega's route map from Liverpool to South America from British Presence in Southern Patagonia Database (England), 1917. Retrieved from https://patbrit.org/bil/social/ortega.htm. Accessed July 23, 2020.
Steamer Ortega's Drawing Room from British Presence in Southern Patagonia Database (England), 1917. Retrieved from https://patbrit.org/bil/social/ortega.htm. Accessed July 23, 2020.
"Prices Current of Chilian Produce," Valparaiso and West Coast Mail, vol. 7, no. 280 (Valparaiso, Chile), May 03, 1873. Last Modified June 06, 2021. Accessed June 06, 2021.
"Prices Current of Imports, In Bond," Valparaiso and West Coast Mail, vol. 7, no. 280 (Valparaiso, Chile), May 03, 1873. Last Modified April 10, 2021. Accessed July 23, 2020.