User:Mliu92/sandbox/Pacific Far East Lines

Pacific Far East Line, Inc. (PFEL) was a U.S. owned and operated transportation services company founded in 1946 which declared bankruptcy and ceased operations in 1978. PFEL was one of the primary adopters of lighter aboard ship cargo handling.

History
The Pacific Far East Line, Inc. was organized in 1946 with William T. Sexton as president and Kenneth Dawson as chairman of the board. Both Sexton and Dawson had previously held executive positions for United States Lines. Their first announced voyage would be departing San Francisco on September 14 for Japan, China, and the Philippines using the SS Luxembourg Victory, followed by SS Iran Victory on the same general route.

John Alioto, the son of San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto, bought a controlling interest in PFEL in 1974. Mayor Alioto guaranteed part of the loans that John Alioto had taken out, leading to conflict-of-interest allegations, since Mayor Alioto had authority over the Port of San Francisco, which was leasing space to PFEL.

Passenger Ships
PFEL operated the passenger ship Leilani (ex-USS General W. P. Richardson) in the 1950s for its owner Hawaiian-Textron. Textron had assumed ownership after the Hawaiian Steamship Company went bankrupt. Leilani competed with the long-standing Matson Lines marine service to Hawaii.

Eventually, PFEL took over passenger service in the Pacific from Matson, purchasing SS Mariposa and SS Monterey in 1970. PFEL legally took over both ships on January 20, 1971; physically, Monterey was handed over on January 21, and Mariposa followed on February 15.

In 1977, the operating subsidies for the two liners expired,