(cont'd)

View of Fire Damage of Berth 153 and S.S. Markay

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Although the Navy commandeered most of the passenger liners for wartime duties during World War II, the cruise business made a lucrative recovery after the war. Once their vessels returned from wartime service, Matson and APL resumed regular passenger schedules, and APL constructed five additional vessels. By 1950, APL completed a modern passenger-cargo terminal at Berths 153-154. The new buildings replacing those damaged by the massive S.S. Markay fire of 1947, which began with an explosion at a nearby berth.

Passenger travel at the Port peaked in the mid-to-late 1950s. Steamship companies and agencies operating terminals at harbor included the Matson Navigation Company; APL; Bakke Steamship Corporation; Catalina Island Steamship Company; Funch, Edye and Company; Furness, Withy and Company, Ltd.; General Steamship Corporation Ltd.; and agents for Chilean North Pacific Line; Iino Lines; Furness; Holland-America; Royal Mail Line; and Prince Line. The rejuvenation of passenger travel did not last long as low-cost, speedy airline travel quickly gained popularity. Over time, shipping companies scrapped their large passenger liners or converted them to freighters.

By the late 1960s, both APL and Matson had withdrawn completely from passenger service and focused on cargo. The passenger facilities at the Port were used only occasionally for cruise service until the mid-1970s, when the cruise business enjoyed a dramatic upsurge in popularity. Cruise operations such as Princess Cruises, Carnival Cruise Lines, Cunard Lines Ltd., and Royal Viking Lines docked at the berths. The liners took vacationers to the Caribbean, Alaska, and ports-of-call around the world and continue to provide this service today.