The tradition of POLISH OCEAN LINES, the largest Polish liner shipping company goes back to April 1930 when GDYNIA AMERICA SHIPPING LINES were established along with the port of Gdynia development, Poland's only gateway to the world at that time.
GAL - Gdynia America Shipping Lines with seven ocean-going vessels provided passenger traffic between Gdynia and North America (New York and Halifax) linking over four million Polish immigrants in the United States with Poland. In 1935 GAL inaugurated regular cargo services to South American and US Gulf ports. During the Second World War the Company moved its headquarters to London. By the end of the war they were operating 24 ships.
In 1946 the company returned to Poland and on January 1st 1951 the enterprise was wound up and on the next day POLISH OCEAN LINES as a state company were established in Gdynia.
