Social and Travel History: Alcoa to the Caribbean. When ALCOA operated three passenger cargo liners to the West Indies. Modern ships – elegant yet casual service. A look to the cruising past.
Because of shipping shortages in World War I, Alcoa (formerly the Aluminum Company of America) developed its own shipping line to carry bauxite from its source in what is now Suriname and Guyana to aluminum mills in the United States and elsewhere. At first the line operated under foreign flags. From 1940 to 1969 it operated under the US flag.
Following World War 2, Alcoa Steamship Company acquired three unfinished Victory ship hulls in 1946.
