W. R. Grace and Co. is an American chemical business, For much of its early history, Grace's main business was in South America, in maritime shipping, railroads, agriculture, and silver mining.

For most of its history, Grace's main business was cargo shipping, operating the Grace Line. To get cargo from Peru to North America and Europe, including guano and sugar, and noticing the need for other goods to be traded, William Grace founded a shipping division. Grace Line began service in 1882.

Grace Lines operated transport for the U.S. War Shipping Administration, After the war the Grace line operated 23 ships totaling 188,000 gross tons.

In 1960 Grace Line, inspired by the pioneering efforts to begin containerizing its South American cargo operations by converting the conventional freighters Santa Eliana and Santa Leonor into fully cellular container ships.In 1970, Grace Line was sold to Prudential Lines for $44.5 million, with the merged company renamed Prudential Grace Line.