Vane Brothers Co., a former ships' chandlery, has been one of the most familiar businesses in continuous operation on the Baltimore waterfront since its founding in 1898 by Capt. William Burke Vane.
Today, the family-owned company has grown from a quaint ships' chandlery that once provisioned vessels in the Baltimore Harbor to a marine services firm that offers bunkering, lighterage, launch service and marine transportation.
Vane Brothers, which also has offices and conducts operations in Philadelphia and Norfolk, owns and operates a fleet of 10 green, white and blue tugboats, 26 barges and employs 175 workers.
Its coastwise operations, which extend from Boston to Norfolk, are as varied as helping nudge the Constellation to the Fort McHenry Shipyard in 1996 for its refitting to transporting and supplying ships with marine lubricants and potable water.
"There are not a lot of chandleries around anymore and our founding dates to some really romantic days," said Charles "Duff" Hughes, 41, president of the company.
"In 1993, we established another side business, a U.S. Coast Guard-approved life raft service and inspection station. We inspect and repair all safety equipment on ships from lifeboats to immersion suits and life preservers," he said.
Vane Brothers was established by Capt. William Burke Vane and his brother, Allen P. Vane, both ex-sailing captains, in a two-story brick building at Broadway and Thames Street in Fells Point. In 1987, they moved to their current location at Pier 11, the former United States Lines' pier in Canton.
"Originally named for the business of making and selling candles, chandleries were one-stop shopping for vessel operators and their crews. The chandler dealt with time-consuming tasks -- the butcher, the baker, the fishmonger, the cooper, the iron monger, even the post office," Mary Butler Davies writes in her book, "Of Time and The Tide. A Century of Maritime Excellence: A Centennial History of the Vane Brothers Company 1898-1998."
In 1910, the business relocated to 602-604 East Pratt Street, across from Pier 4, also known as Long Pier, where it became a rendezvous for mariners.
The Vanes also "held accounts of 275 sailing ships; (and) they were owners and part owners of many of those vessels," Davies recounts.
