Frigga shipping company

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Logo of the shipping company Frigga

The shipping company "Frigga" Aktiengesellschaft existed from the end of 1920 to the beginning of 1993 (in the last few years as a GmbH). The company was based in Hamburg , with a branch in Emden. In 1989 the company headquarters was relocated to Tangstedt in Schleswig-Holstein. Frigga was mainly active in the ore and coal freight business and served as a feeder for German steel producers .

history

founding

After the First World War , due to the rapidly increasing demand for coal and ore and the dependence on foreign shipping companies , the shipping company "Frigga" Aktiengesellschaft was founded on December 9, 1920 under the leadership of Westfälische Transport Aktien Gesellschaft with a share capital of 10 million marks . Karl Diedrichs, General Director of Westfälische Transport AG, established connections with major companies in the German coal producers and steel industry who wanted to secure the supply of raw materials for their operations in this way.

construction

Frigga share from 1954

The shipping company's first ship was the Baldur (3,100  tdw ), built in England in 1904 and bought from the Netherlands in October 1921 . The second ship, the Heimdal (3,300 tdw), was a new build on behalf of the shipping company. Up to the Second World War , the share capital was increased several times and converted in the course of the currency reform . In 1939 the capital amounted to RM 6.6 million . The fleet grew to 12 ships. The shareholders at that time were:

The Frigga , which sank in March 1945 , was lifted in 1948 and started up again in 1949

During the war, the shipping company was under forced government control. All ships were lost due to the war. The Hermod , built in 1922, and the Frigga , built in 1924, were lifted in 1948 and 1949, respectively, and after some difficulties were regained by the Allies . For a short time, the shipping company was in a sense the flagship of the German merchant navy when the 8,430 tdw ship Frigga resumed service at the end of 1949 . At that time it was the largest German merchant ship. The Frigga fleet was continuously expanded in the period that followed, up to three 145,000 tdw bulk carriers . At peak times, the shipping company owned 12 ships of its own and managed five other ships owned by Rheinstahl AG and Thyssen AG in bareboat charter through subsidiaries .

Decline

At the end of the 1960s, coal freight lost its importance. That is why the shares were redistributed for the owners in accordance with the changed benefit of the shipping company. The shareholders had already changed by then through company mergers or acquisitions. From 1970 the shipping company Frigga belonged to one third each of August-Thyssen-Hütte AG , Hoesch AG and the holding company KMR ( Krupp , Mannesmann , Rheinstahl ). In 1970/71 Blohm & Voss built the Widar (79,000 GRT, 146,000 tdw), the largest dry freighter under the German flag, and delivered it to Frigga.

From the end of the 1970s, the steel business also collapsed and at the same time the rising oil price and location disadvantages of a German shipping company increasingly had an impact . The specialized ships of the Frigga fleet could hardly be used for other cargo. With the takeover of Rheinstahl, Thyssen became the largest shareholder in 1977. The shareholders needed the transport capacity of their fleet less and less and were not interested in a reorientation of the company. Instead, the fleet was continuously reduced.

In October 1984 the shareholders made the decision to cease shipping operations. The 15 employees in the administration and another 160 people on the move were mainly placed in other activities. The AG was converted into a GmbH and in 1989 the company's headquarters were moved to Tangstedt. The last two ships, Aegir and Brage (82,325 tdw each), were flagged out to Panama and managed by “CF Ahrenkiel GmbH & Co”. In 1991 the last ships were sold and the shipping company Frigga was finally deleted from the commercial register in 1993 .

The fleet

Bulk carrier Widar , stamp 1977

Over the years, 44 ships have sailed under the Frigga flag. Some of them were owned by other companies, such as Rheinstahl  AG, but were managed by Frigga. The names of the ships often came from Germanic mythology or were named after important personalities of the participating societies. In the early days, the ships were mostly bought second-hand from other shipping companies. From the mid-1950s onwards, almost all of them were new buildings on behalf of Frigga.

The Frigga let many of their new ships from the North Sea works in Emden finished that belonged Group Rheinstahl to share own ends. Most of the crews also came from East Frisia . Due to its strict focus on ore and coal bulk transport, the shipping company was often innovative with its orders in this shipbuilding segment.

Here the ships are listed according to the period of service with the Frigga, as the names were sometimes used several times to differentiate with the year of launch.

  • 1921–23 DS Harald (1904)
  • 1921-25 DS Baldur (1921)
  • 1922–40 DS Heimdal (1921)
  • 1922-26 DS Odin (1921)
  • 1922-44 DS Thor (1922)
  • 1924-27 DS Braga (1901)
  • 1923–43 DS Aegir (1923)
  • 1927-40 DS August Thyssen (1923)
  • 1924-62 DS Frigga (1924)
  • 1929-44 DS Odin (1928)
  • 1933-40 DS Albert Janus (1928)
  • 1929-40 DS Baldur (1929)
  • 1936–41 DS Widar (1935)
  • 1936–42 DS Hödur (1913)
  • 1938-40 DS Brage (1937)
  • 1939–56 DS Hermod (1922)
  • 1940-45 DS Vale (1939)
  • 1941–44 DS Albert Janus (1916)
  • 1950–58 DS Thor (1918)
  • 1952-64 MS Odin (1951)
  • 1952-64 MS Baldur (1951)
  • 1953-67 MS Widar (1953)
  • 1954–63 DS Heimdal (1944)
  • 1955-66 MS Aegir (1955)
  • 1956-66 MS Brage (1956)
  • 1956–62 DS August Thyssen (1943)
  • 1954–71 MS Hödur (1954)
  • 1957-72 MS Vale (1957)
  • 1958–70 MS Otto Springorum (1958)
  • 1958-66 MS Fritz Thyssen (1958)
  • 1958–69 MS Rheinstahl (1958)
  • 1958-69 MS Arenberg (1958)
  • 1958–69 MS Albert Vögler (1958)
Anita Thyssen, built in 1959
  • 1959-69 MS Anita Thyssen (1959)
  • 1959–64 MS Albert Janus (1959)
  • 1963–73 MS Frigga (1963)
  • 1965-82 MS Odin (1965)
  • 1965–83 MS Fritz Thyssen (1965)
  • 1966–78 MS Baldur (1966)
  • 1968–91 MS Aegir (1968)
  • 1968-91 MS Brage (1968)
  • 1971-84 MS Widar (1971)
  • 1973-84 MS Thor (1972)
  • 1973-85 MS Hermod (1973)

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