page_title: TransAtlantic Lines
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: TransAtlantic Lines / History
caption_attribution_description: English: en:Cargo ship en:MV Geysir. IMO Number: 7710733 MMSI Number: 369819000 Callsign: WDD4592 Length: 273.8 ft Beam: 45ft
context_page_description: TransAtlantic Lines LLC is an American shipping company based in Greenwich, Connecticut. The limited liability company was founded in 1998 by vice-president Gudmundur Kjaernested The company owned and operated 5 vessels, including one tug-and-barge combination. Four of these vessels were chartered by the Military Sealift Command, and performed duties such as delivering cargo to U.S. military activities in Diego Garcia. TransAtlantic maintains resident agents in the U.S. District of New York and other federal Districts to receive service of process. TransAtlantic Lines had no collective bargaining agreements with seagoing unions.
context_section_description: In 1997, Gudmundur Kjærnested decided to start a shipping company to serve the Iceland route.  Then an Icelandic citizen, educated in the United States, and having worked at Van Ommeren shipping for seven years, he was familiar with the route and its history.  Kjarnested is a citizen of Iceland and U.S. resident alien who was married on May 20, 2000 to U.S.-national Margaret Elizabeth Bozzi.  He is also president of Atlantsskip in Reykjavik, Iceland. The two were originally even partners in both ventures, and are also the primary owners of the Icelandic company TransAtlantic Lines-Iceland EHF (TLI).  Shortly thereafter, they accepted an offer from shipping company American Automar to purchase the company.
  The company made several preparations to bid for the Iceland contract. The company did not yet own any ships, but did secure four letters from U.S. shipping companies pledging to supply vessels sufficient to cover the charter requirements.  One of the pledged vessels was the supply boat Native Dancer.
  Eight bids for the 1998 U.S.–Iceland run were solicited by the Military Traffic Management Command on 30 January 1998, and six bids were received.  Observers speculate that the bids were from the Icelandic company Eimskip, Dutch shipping company Van Ommeren, Atlantsskip, TransAtlantic Lines, and TransAtlantic Lines Iceland.  In September 1998, the Military Traffic Management Command awarded 65% of the Iceland contract to TransAtlantic Lines Iceland, the lowest overall bidder, and the remaining 35% to the TransAtlantic Lines LLC, the lowest bidder among American shipping companies.  The portion awarded to TransAtlantic Lines LLC had a cumulative total value of $5,519,295 and was set to expire by 31 October 2000.
  Within a month, TransAtlantic re-flagged Juno to the United States and renamed it Geysir at the Port of Jacksonville.  In response to the awards, the government of Iceland lodged a protest with the U.S. State Department, arguing that "TLI was not a true Icelandic shipping company" and "lacks the necessary experience, technical capability, financial responsibility, and material connection with Iceland"  Shipping companies Van Ommeren Lines (USA) and Eimskip of Iceland, which had previously serviced the Iceland route, sued the United States protesting the award.  The district court found for Van Ommeren and Eimskip, requiring the Army to restart the bidding process.  TransAtlantic appealed the decision, and on 11 January 2000 the Court of Appeals reversed the lower court's decision, finally securing the contract for TransAtlantic.
  On June 13, 2001, the company won a contract with an estimated cumulative value of $16,738,001 for dedicated ocean liner cargo service from Jacksonville, Florida to U.S. military installations in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. This contract extended until June 30, 2004.  The government announced the requirements for the charter on the World Wide Web on December 4, 2000, and seven bids were received.  Military Traffic and Management Command in Alexandria, Virginia, is the contracting activity.  The company uses the tugboat Spence and its barge the Guantanamo Bay Express make the twice-monthly trip between Jacksonville and Guantanamo Bay. Each leg of the trip takes approximately 4 and 1/2 days and covers approximately 1,000 miles (1,600 km).
  On November 11, 2004, while leaving Mayport, Florida en route to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the tow wires connecting the tug and barge parted, causing the barge to run aground.  At the time of the accident, the vessels were experiencing thirty knot wind gusts and 12-foot (3.7 m) seas.  Extensive bottom damage and breaches to all port side voids were reported.  The barge was refloated and delivered to the owners the following day.  The vessels were owned by Pac-Atlantic Marine Leasing, LCC at the time.
  In 2004, Carsten Rehder affiliate company Rehder & Arkon bought MV Steamers Future in April 2004, and renamed her MV Baffin Strait.  Rehder & Arkon chartered her for 6 months to Mariana Express Lines, and sold her to TransAtlantic Lines in late October 2004.  TransAtlantic
caption: M/V Geysir was TransAtlantic's first ship.
exif: {}