Puget Sound Navigation Company

In the past, the company operated an entire fleet of steamboats and ferries on Puget Sound in Washington and the Georgia Strait in British Columbia.

Known colloquially as the Black Ball Line, the PSNC achieved a "virtual monopoly" on cross-sound traffic in the 1930s and competed with the Canadian Pacific Railway's steamships on several routes.

[3] The company's trade name was inspired by the Black Ball Line which began scheduled passenger and freight service in 1818 with four sailing ships between New York and Liverpool.

The company responded not by hiring strike breakers, but by halting operations, hoping public pressure would convince the State to permit a fare increase.

[8] The first all-Canadian route began on August 11, 1951 and was between Horseshoe Bay (in West Vancouver) and Gibsons Landing on BC's Sunshine Coast.