Stoomvaart Maatschappij "Nederland"
The Dutch shipping company Stoomvaart Maatschappij “Nederland” (SMN) , or De “Nederland” for short , internationally known as the Netherlands Steamship Company , existed from 1870 to 1970. The company's motto, “Semper Mare Navigandum” (“Always go to sea”), took up the initials of the shipping company.
history
The shipping company was founded in Amsterdam on May 13, 1870. One of the founding members was Heinrich von Oranien-Nassau , known as "The Seafarer". The shipping company's initial trading area was the connection between the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies through the Suez Canal . On September 4th, 1877, the Amsterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij was founded as a repair yard at the instigation of the shipping company .
During the First World War, the shipping company founded a subsidiary with which it began a New York-Java service, which initially took the route around the Cape of Good Hope and, from 1917, ran through the Panama Canal . From 1915 the Java Pacific Line opened a service between the American Pacific coast via Hong Kong and Manila to Java. This later also served ports on the Gulf of Mexico .
The Second World War brought heavy fleet losses , whereupon tramp trips under the name Reederij Amsterdam were started from 1941 .
From 1948, the shipping company started new liner services from the Netherlands to South America, South Africa, the Persian Gulf and India. After the Indonesian government no longer allowed scheduled passenger services from 1957, the shipping company used its last two passenger ships in the global cruise business. From 1960 onwards, the remaining Indonesian services under the Dutch flag were also terminated. The Java-New York Line then led to Bombay.
Later, a new joint service called Nedlloyd Middle East Express was added by De “Nederland” and the Koninklijke Rotterdamsche Lloyd from the Great Lakes to the Persian Gulf, to India and Pakistan. From Europe, China and Japan were initially served and later New Guinea, Tahiti, New Caledonia and New Zealand were added to the line. From 1963, the existing cooperation between the two shipping companies was built on and they worked together under the common Nedlloyd Lijnen NV logo . The Nedlloyd-Lijnen joint service comprised 25 ships from each of the two shipping companies. Also in 1963, the trade restrictions of Dutch shipping companies to Indonesia were lifted. In 1967 the lines from the USA east coast to India and the Europe-Africa service ended.
The two founding shipping companies initially retained their independence, but were later forced to cooperate further due to the increasing containerization of sea traffic and the associated need for capital. With the shipping companies Koninklijke Java-China-Paketvaart Lijnen (KJCPL) and the Vereenigde Nederlandsche Scheepvaart Maatschappij (VNS), two other Dutch partners joined the joint service in 1969. on January 20 of the following year, all four companies merged to form the Nederlandse Scheepvaart Unie .
In order to gain a foothold in the tanker business, the Stoomvaart Maatschappij "Nederland" founded the Verenigde Nederlandse Tankvaart Rederij together with Van Nievelt, Goudriaan & Co.'s Stoomvaart Maatschappij (Nigoco) in the 1950s .
literature
- GJ De Boer: De Schepen van de "Nederland" . De Alk NV, Alkmaar 1969, ISBN 90-6013-196-7 .
- GJ De Boer: The Centenary of the Stoomvaart Maatschappij "Nederland" 1870-1970 . World Ship Society, Alkmaar 1970.
- J. Th. Wilke, S. Halfweg (Ed.): Neerlands Scheepsbouw en Scheepvaart. Deel II - Scheepvaart . Uitgevers Wyt, Rotterdam 1946.
- Wilhelm H. Moojen (Ed.): Nederlandse Koopvaardij in beeld. 1960-1969 (I) . 1st edition. Lanasta, Emmen 2006, ISBN 90-8616-007-7 .