Royal Rotterdam Lloyd

(Koninklijke Rotterdamsche Lloyd)

(Est. 1839)


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The company started life in 1839 as Willem Ruys with sailing ships to trade mostly to the Dutch East Indies and the Far East. Some voyages to South America were also made. In 1870 a steamer service was instituted to carry iron ore between Spain, the Mediterranean and Holland and a passenger / mail service to Batavia (Jakarta) commenced in 1872. The Stoomboot Reederij "Rotterdamsche Lloyd" (Rotterdam Lloyd) was formed in 1875. In 1881 the name was changed to Stoomvaart Maatschappij Rotterdamsche Lloyd (Rotterdam Steam Navigation Co) and in 1883 the company was re-formed as N.V. Rotterdamsche Lloyd. A subsidiary company was Stoomvaart Maatschappij 'Triton' (1899) to operate the company's tramp ship trade. Partnership operations were formed in 1902 with other companies to operate the Java - China - Japan Line, in 1906 to operate the Java - Bengalen Line and in 1908 the Java - Australia Line. In 1908 Rotterdam Lloyd also set up the Stoomvaart Maatschappij "Rotterdam" as a tramp ship company. A new Java - Pacific Line was founded in partnership in 1915. A consortium of Dutch shipowners formed Vereenigde Nederlandsche Scheepvaarts Maatschappij (United Netherlands Navigation Co) in 1920 to divide the routes between owners and Rotterdam Lloyd were appointed managers of the Holland - Australia Line and three ships allocated to this service. After the war, the company was granted the honour of Koninklijke (Royal) to add to it's title and became Koninklijke Rotterdamsche Lloyd.

In 1948 Rotterdam Lloyd and Nederland Steamship Company formed the Nedlloyd Line to operate services from the Gulf of Mexico to the Persian Gulf, India and Pakistan. With the independence of Indonesia in 1949 trade with this area gradually declined and the later advent of popular air travel, spelt the end of passenger ships.

In 1970 Royal Rotterdam Lloyd merged with other Dutch shipping companies and lost its independent identity. As on January 20th, 1970 the Nederlandsche Scheepvaart Unie (NSU) was born. The companies involved in this merger were:

  • Stoomvaart Maatschappij Nederland (SMN) – Nederland Line
  • Koninklijke Rotterdamsche Lloyd (KRL) – Royal Rotterdam Lloyd
  • Koninklijke Java-China-Paketvaart-Lijnen (KJCPL) – Royal InterOcean Lines
  • Vereenigde Nederlandsche Scheepvaart Maatschappij (VNS) – United Netherlands Navigation Co.

Later on NSU became Nedlloyd and in 1988 Koninklijke Nedlloyd (Royal Nedlloyd Line). In 1981 the Koninklijke Nederlandsche Stoomboot-Maatschappij (KNSM) completed the group.

Much later in 1996 Koninklijke Nedlloyd (Royal Nedlloyd) from The Netherlands joined with P&O from The United Kingdom to become, as P&O Nedlloyd, a major player in the worldwide container trade.

In 2005 A.P. Moller-Maersk Group from Denmark acquired P&O Nedlloyd and it became Maersk Line and part of the world’s largest container shipping line.

 

A.P. Moller - Maersk Group
www.maersk.com

Maersk Line
www.maerskline.com



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