Transatlantic crossing

Transatlantic crossings are passages of passengers and cargo across the Atlantic Ocean between the Americas and Europe or Africa. The majority of passenger traffic is across the North Atlantic between North America and Western Europe. Centuries after the dwindling of sporadic Viking trade with Markland, a regular and lasting transatlantic trade route was established in 1566 with the Spanish West Indies fleets, following the Voyages of Christopher Columbus.

By sea

Prior to the 19th century, transatlantic crossings were undertaken in sailing ships, and the journeys were time consuming and often perilous. The first trade route across the Atlantic was inaugurated by Spain a few decades after the Discovery of America, with the establishment of the West Indies fleets in 1566, a convoy system which regularly linked its territories in the Americas with Spain for over two centuries. Portugal created a similar maritime route between its ports in Brazil and the Portuguese mainland. Other colonial powers followed, such as Britain, France and the Netherlands, as they colonized the New World.