Lansing Lines

In the 1990s the branch of the Lansing family that owns Lansing-Mitchell Weaponeering bought out the Lansings what had owned the company until that time. Since 1999, the new owners have been trying to reengage the international community and sell their services beyond Burgundie. As part of this marketing campaign they have partnered with Asgard Engineers, another transportation manufacturing firm, from Helvianir.

History
Founded in 1458, Adenbourgh, Fiannria by a Fiannrian stevedore foreman, Hummelman Lansing, the workshop was initially focused on chandling and sailmaking. Hermann's nephew, Emille LeLansing, consolidated the operations upon Hummelman's death in 1485, bringing the atelier into his larger shipyard in Port Diteaux, Burgundie. The consolidation worked and the chantier was soon able to get a contract to build ships for the Dukes of Burgundie. Being one of the first multi-service chantiers in the city, they did well.

In 1648, they were contracted by the Burgundian West Punth Trading Company to build a massive ship, the largest ever built in Burgundie, to bring material to southern Punth and return with cargoes. They built the Vent du Nord, a 69 m (226 ft) ship, with 1,275 square m (13,720 sq ft) of sail yardage, that was equipped both for trade and for fighting off Kiravian merchantmen and Pukhtunkhwan pirates. The ship had 35 guns and was capable of carrying 200 tonnes of cargo. After two years of rushed construction, the Vent du Nord was launched in May, 1650, but the ship was observed to be top heavy. On her maiden voyage, under the watchful gaze of much of the cityfolk and even the duke, a strong gust of wind caught the full yardage of the sails and heeled the top-heavy ship and the lowest gun ports started to fill with water. The ship righted and sailed on, but there was a definite list to port. Tacking, the ship caught another gust and heeled again. This time, with the water ballast in the hull as well as the new water coming in the lower gun ports, the ship started to rapidly fill with water and sink. To the astonishment and dismay of the crowd, the ship slowly disappeared into the water, until, 3/4 submerged it came to rest on the seabed.

The reputation of the chantier was in tatters and the masts of the ship sticking out of the harbor waters were a daily reminder of what ass become known as Vent du Nord syndrome. The owner at the time, Henri-Eugene deMeur took the loss too hard and committed suicide by throwing himself into the bay. The company disvolved and its land and equipment were sold off to other chantiers and ateliers.

In 1724, Eustanc Lansing, Vicomte of Teal, 5th great-grandson of Hummelman Lansing, purchased a series of ships and salvage rights with a plan to raise the Vent du Nord as the harbor had expanded and the submerged ship was impeding the newly increased traffic. He proposed a rig of two ships in tandem that would float over the Vent du Nord, a rope encircling the hull and a series of pullies that would be used to hoist the ship up from the seabed. In order to lighten the ship, the masts would have to be removed, the canons too. The Vicomte, devised a diving bell to allow workers to be able to work on small projects. He also devised long saws to reach down under the bell to get at the masts. After 3 years of working on the plans and some trial and error the salvage mission began. It was a rocky start but after 5 years the hull was actually raised, drug out to sea and resunk 12nm off of the harbor. The Vicomte was lauded as have redeemed the Lansing family name and started a salvage operation that spanned the ports and cities of the Kilikas Sea.

In 1794, the Lansing Salvage Company bought a fledgling shipping firm and secured the monopoly on importing clover and timber from Ilánova, Kirav. The shipping route was immediately profitable and the fleet tripled in size over the next 20 years, to 9 ships. During the Northern Levantine Mediatization War Lansing focused on building ships for the naissant Navy of Burgundie. Following the war, the shipyards who supported Burgundie where award with the lands, stock, and equipment of the chantiers and ateliers of the defeated Ultmarrian provinces. Six shipping companies based on the Isle of Burgundie benefitted immensely, O'Shea, Doppel, Falmouth, Doit-Allers, Missel-Nord, and Lansing. The concerns generally specialized in diverse forms of shipbuilding and services and so did not complete locally, but were violently competitive with the shipyards of Caphiria, Kirav, Faneria, Fiannria, and Urcea.

Throughout the 19th century, the Lansing company secured various shipbuilding and salvaging contracts with the various Burgundian Trade Companies and the Empires. During the New Burgundie Secession War, the Burgundian Grand Crona Trade Empire ships were largely made by Lansing. This led to a loss of confidence in the company by the government of Burgundie and the Navy of Burgundie and O’Shea Container Shipping started to eclipse the primacy of Lansing. Starting in the 1930s, Lansing started to invest heavily in rail infrastructure, deciding that instead of competing with O'Shea, they would benefit from the land-based logistics business that O'Shea was creating. This effort was led by the Colonial Railway Charter for Ixnay, granted to the Burgundian South Levantine Trading Company and subsequently subcontracted to Lansing. The charter sought to tie the port rail facilities of Ankivara to the new Caphirian rail lines in the Recepistani interior. Local commentary also considered it a way for the HLE mandate to expand its influenc. In southern Ixnay although no formal evidence has corroborated that claim.

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