Cuideachta Trasatlantach Azure

The Azure Transatlantic Company (GA:Cuideachta Trasatlantach Azure), also known as Azure Liners or CTA, is a Irish cruise line based at Azure House at Dublin, Ireland. In 1877, Daniel O'Reilly, Irish Buisnessman and investor in shipping yards, decided to found his own shipping company with the approval of the British Government being given in 1880. Starting with a small fleet of ships in 1884, ATC slowly clambered its way up in popularity, with it's iconic "Emerald" funnels and upper deck painting making it stand out amongst its competition, remaining as the fierce third player in the Cunard-White Star competition, being known more for reliability then innovation.

In 1902, White Star joined the American-owned International Mercantile Marine Co. In response, the British Government provided Cunard and Azure with substantial loans and a subsidy to build three superliners needed to retain Britain's competitive position. Cunard built the Lusitania  and Mauritania, whilst Azure built the Sinann, named after the Irish river goddess, which was also the first ship to have an emerald line around the hull. In 1914 the ship was conscripted into use as a hospital ship, but survived the war.

In 1920 whilst docked in Dublin, Sinann was defended by the British armed forces, though they were forced to surrender. In the ensuring peace deal, with Ireland remaining as a dominion until 1935. the ATC was compensated by the British government for disruption, which they saved up for a new superliner. It was a retroactively smart move, as the Great Depression hit in 1929. The least affected of the three liners, Azure launched the Sirona  in 1932, the first of a new class of ships. In 1935, with Ireland leaving the Commonwealth, Azure made the risky decision to remain in Ireland, though once again, this proved to be advantageous, using Irish Neutrality to largely continue uninterrupted during World War Two, though the Coventina, the sister ship of Sirona, was sunk, causing a massive diplomatic incident between Germany and Ireland which almost resulted in Ireland joining the Allies, but was placated by a large donation of money to the company, as she'd been sunk on a sea-worthiness test.

Sinann was finally decommissioned in 1946, though its iconography in Ireland prompted a conservation effort, the ship being docked as a hotel in Galway. By the mid-1950s, it operated 7 ships to the United States and Brazil. After 1958, transatlantic passenger ships became increasingly unprofitable because of the introduction of jet airliners. In 1967, Azure retired its year round transatlantic offers, only doing them in the summer, and replacing them with smaller, Europe based tours. In 1977, the Andraste was launched, the first of their ships to offer Artic based tours.

Despite their ships being considered to have a "dated" look in the 1980s, having largely kept to the same design principles of old, the success of the movie Titanic proved profitable for them, as people not only had the chance to visit an authentic ship from that era, but also sail on modern ships designed the same way, causing a huge profit boost, allowing for the largest expansion of ships in the mid 2000s. As of 2022, Azure is the only shipping company to operate a scheduled passenger service between Europe and South America.

Former fleet
The Azure fleet, all built for Azure unless otherwise indicated, consisted of the following ships in order of acquisition: