Company founder Jacob Stolt-Nielsen began his career training at a ship brokerage in London, when he noticed an increase in certain kinds of liquids being shipped over the sea, especially those that served as the base materials for plastics. He moved to New York City in order to work for R.J. Chianelli, a broker in the chemicals industry that focused on these products. He witnessed the explosion in growth of the plastics industry, building on technology developed during World War II. However, the basic materials needed for the creation of plastics were new substances that the traditional shipping industry did not yet know how to ship safely or effectively.