Lloyd’s Register apologises for its role in trafficking enslaved people from Africa The maritime group, founded in 1760 by merchants and underwriters, issued the apology after commissioning research into its links to slavery.
Lloyd’s Register, the maritime and industrial group owned by one of Britain’s biggest charities, has apologised for its role in the trafficking of enslaved African people but has been criticised for not going far enough.
In a statement on its website, LR said that during the period Lloyd’s Register had been engaged in recording information about vessels’ seaworthiness for the use of the trade in buying, selling and insuring them, adding: “It then sold that information on to subscribers, many of whom were actively involved in the slave economy.
Notably, at least six committee members of the Society for the Registry of Shipping from 1764 were identified as enslavers, while another six were involved in the trafficking of enslaved Africans.
Founded in 1760 as the Society for the Registry of Shipping by merchants and underwriters who met at Edward Lloyd’s coffee house in Lombard Street in London, the company provided classification for ships.
