John Griffith II, container shipping innovator, dies

A longtime shipping executive at United States Lines (USL) and Norton Lilly, John Griffith II is credited with helping to establish the first containerized shipping services in the transatlantic and transpacific trades.    Longtime shipping executive and container shipping John Griffith II died Feb. 6, 2018 in Atlanta at the age of 92.
   Griffith II joined United States Lines (USL) in 1950 and is credited with helping to establish the company’s containerized shipping services in the transatlantic trade and later expanding the service to the transpacific. Competitors like Sea-Land Service and Matson had by that time already established containerized service in the U.S. domestic trades, but Griffith II and USL were the first to bring it to international lanes.
   In 1971, he left USL to join Norton Lilly, the largest independent U.S.-owned ship agency in North America, where he served as chairman and CEO until his retirement in 1999.
   Griffith II was predeceased by his wife, Jutta W. Griffith, and his former wife, Elizabeth Cordis Griffith. He is survived by his children – Janet Sofield, Megan Griffith, Constance Chapman, John H. Griffith III and Mark Griffith – as well as eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.