Ludvig G. Braathen
Ludvig G. Braathen | |
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Braathens SAFE |
Ludvig Gustav Braathen (17 March 1891 – 27 December 1976) was a
Biography
Braathen grew up as one of seven siblings in
In 1926, Braathen started his own shipping company: Braathens Rederi A/S. He invested all his savings, 25,000 kr, along with some capital from one of the captains and a broker. Another NOK 25,000 was borrowed. He bought several small ships that were put into service on routes from Europe to China. The first tanker was bought in 1929 and by 1936, the company had ships totalling 56,000 tonnes.[2]
Braathen has stated that the idea of creating an airline occurred to him in 1936, when the ship Brajara had engine trouble while en route to Japan. The Japanese shipyards could not guarantee that they could repair the ship, and at first it was considered whether the ship should be towed to Europe for repairs. The solution chosen was instead to have the necessary piece made in Amsterdam and flown to Japan by KLM. In 1937, Braathen travelled to the United States to study aviation, and he looked both at flying boats and took a Douglas DC-3 operated by Trans World Airlines from Kansas City to San Francisco. In 1938, Braathen sent an application to the Norwegian authorities to receive concession and subsidies to start a route from Oslo to New York City. This was rejected, since the authorities did not feel the time was right to give subsidies for such a route.[3]
On 26 March 1946, Braathens Rederi established an airline called
References
Notes
Bibliography
- Tjomsland, Audun & Wilsberg, Kjell (1996). Braathens SAFE 50 år: Mot alle odds. Oslo. ISBN 82-990400-1-9.)
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