LAKE COMO

History of Navigation on Lake Como

Text: ing.Massimo Gozzi

The "Società privilegiata per l'impresa dei battelli a vapore nel Regno Lombardo Veneto" was set up in 1825 with headquarters in Milan. The “Lario”, a steamship with sails, was launched on 29th July 1826 and was the first in a series of boats that used steam engines. There is not much information available on this vessel, but we known that it was built on the Olmo beach of lake Como, and began daily services after three test journeys. The service covered the stretch of lake between Como and Domaso, around 30 miles, and took five hours.
Much of this boat’s construction was of British origin, as was her captain, Mr. Perham. However, Italian captains also soon learned how to steer a steamship.
A large number of boats were launched in the following years. They made use of the technical choices that helped to develop steam navigation.
After the “Società Privilegiata”, there was period (1830- 1840) in which navigation services were tendered to the private individual Giuseppe Camozzi.
In 1843, the "Società Lariana di navigazione a vapore" was set up with headquarters in Como, with a public underwriting in 1842 set up by the Conte Porro, for the construction of the boat “Lariano”. Between 1843 and 1845 the company distributed profits of 5% of the capital invested.
The "Società Lariana di Navigazione a Vapore sul Lago di Como" was set up in 1846 with the corporate purpose of “goods and passenger transport on Lake Lario [another name for Lake Como]”. The competences of this company were extended in 1860 when a convention was signed by the Ministry of Trade, General Directorate of Postal Services, to set up post offices onboard steamers.
In 1872 the Società Italiana per la navigazione a Vapore sui Laghi was set up with headquarters in Milan, with share capital of 740,000 lire. It set itself up as competition for the Como-based company. However, it only obtained the licence for lake navigation services with a convention in February 1874; an agreement with its competitor on how to run services was reached thanks to Commissario Cavalier Carlo Sessa, who was appointed to resolve a dispute between the two companies.
This period of competition was short-lived, however, and in 1874 the “Società Riunite per la Navigazione a Vapore sul Lago di Como" was formed (with headquarters in Como). This was a joint-stock company with share capital of 3,000,000 lire. It was the result of a merger between the two previous companies, which had become inevitable due to the difficulty of the competition between them, which caused both companies to lose profits.