[3] In addition the company was required to operate a non-subsidised commercial service with voyages at least once per month between Bordeaux, Dakar, Pernambuco, Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, Santos, Montevideo and Buenos Aires by vessels of not less than 4,000 tons cargo capacity and not less than 11 knots average speed.

As a precondition (art.26) for the subsidised contract and to ensure that sufficient ships were in service to provide a reliable mail service, the company was required to build, in France, four passenger liners of a minimum displacement of 11,000 tonnes, able to maintain a minimum speed of 15 knots between Bordeaux and Lisbon, and 18 knots between Lisbon and Buenos Aires.

To achieve the promised service levels, (while the new-builds were advancing) the agreement (art.97) allowed that, temporarily, the company might operate vessels of 9,000 tons displacement at a speed of 14 knots from Buenos Aires to Lisbon and 15 knots from Lisbon to Buenos Aires and two of the vessels might be of foreign construction.

The next major addition was the 42,512 GRT L'Atlantique in 1930 but its working life was short, being destroyed by fire while sailing from Bordeaux to Le Havre in 1933.

In 1939, on its voyage from La Rochelle, leaving 19 October 1939 and arriving Buenos Aires 5 November 1939, the ship was painted camouflage grey to dodge German submarines which were already on the prowl.

It carried on board 384 passengers fleeing Europe, of which the largest contingent were Spanish republicans who had previously taken refuge in France.

[7] The company was said to have ships that were ill-fated,[5] which was true for Gallia, L'Atlantique and Burdigala, but not for the long service lives of Lutetia, Pasteur and Massilia.

The Compagnie des Messageries Maritimes then took over the South American service in 1962,[1] with the only three passenger ships still left, i.e. the 1951 built MS Laennec, Louis Lumière and Charles Tellier, nicknamed 'les savants' (the scientists).