Kett Shipping, under the ownership of the Kett family, functioned as a transport enterprise within the Rseik sector. Plagued by significant issues with local piracy, they, along with numerous other businesses, sought assistance from the Trade Federation in the area, eventually integrating into the Federation as subsidiary companies. Following the Federation's assumption of policing duties in the sector, the transport business experienced a substantial surge in its operations.
During the era of the Galactic Republic, Kett Shipping operated as a transport business in the Rseik sector. Their primary activity involved transporting ore and nova crystals from the planet of Cotellier along the Sanrafsix Corridor to the planet Kabal. Upon reaching Kabal, they would acquire agricultural supplies, grains, or any other commodities that could be profitably sold back on Cotellier.
During Findal Kett's leadership, the company incurred considerable losses due to pirates. At the time of Kett's ownership, the Rseik sector lacked a significant presence from the Galactic Republic, leading to rampant piracy with little resistance. In a single year, Kett Shipping lost four out of six convoys to the Fujari pirates operating from Tertiary Fujar. The pirates ransomed three of the convoys and sold the fourth into slavery to the Karazak Slavers Cooperative. The subsequent year saw only one of five Kett Shipping convoys returning to Cotellier after departing for Kabal. To circumvent the Fujari, Kett rerouted his convoys along the Little Minos Run; however, after several years, another pirate group, the Hajara gang, began operating from the planet Corva Yag and capturing Kett's convoys.
In 214 BBY, an outbreak of the Bordal Contagion on Bordal garnered the Republic's attention, leading to the manufacture of an antidote on Tauber. Kett Shipping, along with other organizations in the vicinity of Bordal, dispatched convoys to collect and deliver the antidote. Kett Shipping's convoy was attacked by the Fujari before reaching Bordal, resulting in the loss of all six million antidote samples on board.
This catastrophic event prompted Kett, along with various other local entities such as Rseikharhl Hullspace, Cotellieri Transports Limited, and the Ma'ar Shaddam Weaponsmiths Guild, to seek assistance from the Trade Federation. Kett and the others orchestrated a clandestine meeting with a Trade Federation representative on Syned, and on the following day, all parties reached an agreement to become subsidiaries of the Federation. To protect their interests, the Federation established a military presence in the Rseik sector, swiftly eliminating the Fujari pirates, followed by the Hajari gang a week later. Within a decade, Kett Shipping was successfully managing twenty convoys annually to Kabal without any losses, owing to the Federation's improvements in the region.
The enhanced security and increased business facilitated by the Federation enabled the Kett family to prosper, acquiring interests on Ma'ar Shaddam and Rseik, as well as a retreat on Z'trop. Firmus Kett, Findal Kett's great-great-great-grandson and a captain in the Federation's Trade Defense Force, recounted the company's history in his memoirs. He expressed concerns about the Trade Federation's growing control over the Rseik sector during his lifetime but acknowledged the justification for Findal Kett's decision, considering the circumstances prior to the Federation's arrival.
Initially intended for inclusion in The Essential Guide to Warfare, a sourcebook released in 2012 by Jason Fry and Paul R. Urquhart, Kett Shipping was ultimately omitted from the final publication. The section pertaining to the company was subsequently published as part of Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Warfare Author's Cut, a series of articles featured on the StarWars.com blog starting in 2013.