Last modified: 2005-02-19 by ivan sache
Keywords: paquet | letters: cnp (white) | letters: npc (white) | letters: ncp (white) | lozenge (red) | stars: 5 (white) | letters: cfn (black) | compagnie francaise de navigation | nouvelle compagnie de paquebots |
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Nicolas Paquet (1831-1909) was the elder son of a wine-grower from Lorraine. Aged 17, he was hired by the Messageries Nationales and worked in Dunkerque and later in Reims. One of his distant relatives, Antoine Vautier, appointed him as his secretary in Marseilles. Vautier was director of the railway P.L.M. (Paris-Lyon-Méditerranée) and specifically in charge of the building of the railway line between Marseilles and Avignon. The material used in those works was shipped from Antwerp by sailing ships of the Belgian company Deppe, and consigned by the house Caussac et Jules Vautier. Antoine Vautier assigned Paquet to work with his brother Jules, so that Paquet learned how to manage maritime affairs. Paquet was sent for three years in Algiers to study the wheat market. Aged 26, he was appointed Vautier's authorized representative after Caussac's withdrawal from business. Two years later, Jules Vautier passed away and his brother asked Paquet to take Vautier's assets and found a consignation company, which became a shipping company.
Paquet named his company Compagnie de Navigation Nicolas Paquet Aîné et Cie. In 1860, the company signed a contract with the Spanish government
for the transport of troops to Morocco, where the Rif war had broken
out. Paquet's first ship was SS Languedoc, initially bought in 1855 by
Vautier and Caussac, and purchased in 1863 by Paquet in co-ownership
with Deppe and Bristaud. Paquet bought another two ships and created
the first scheduled service between Marseilles and the coast of Morocco.
In 1861, the company was renamed Compagnie de Navigation Marocaine and
was associated to a commerce company set up by Paquet in the most
important cities of