Johnson Line and Latin America

For many Stockholmers, the Johnson Line was long a household name and an essential part of their existence. One of those fascinated by the sea-crossing of these ships as a young boy was the author and journalist Nathan Shachar. In the autumn of 1904, when the businessman Axel Johnson decided to establish scheduled service between Sweden and Latin America, there was minimal trade with distant continents. The lack of regularly scheduled service was a major handicap for Swedish export industries, especially the rapidly expanding engineering industry, which had many new products to offer. Brazil and Argentina were awash with money made from selling meat, wheat and coffee to Europe's growing cities.