Compagnie Maritime Belge
The Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB ), also called Belgian Line, was a Belgian shipping line and was from 1895 to 2000.
History
The shipping company was founded in 1895 at the request of the Belgian King Leopold II and with the support of British investors as Compagnie Belge Maritime du Congo ( CBMC ) to open a liner service from Europe to the then applicable as private property of Leopold Congo Free State. The first ship of the new company was called the Leopoldville, which departed on 6 February 1895, their first departure from Antwerp to Congo. The Congo boats ( Dutch: Congo messengers ) held upright this service from Antwerp for the next sixty years.
When the CMBC 1930, the shipping company Lloyd Royal Belge acquired, the name was changed to the new company Compagnie Maritime Belge ( CMB) and opened new scheduled services to America and the Far East. In 1960 we took over the second largest Belgian shipping company, Armement Deppe and turned with the purchase of five bulk carriers 1963-1970 first tramp shipping to. In the early 1970s, the company participated in the Belgian airlines BIAS International and Delta Air Transport. 1975 was added a 40 % stake in the tramp shipping company Bocimar that one to 1982, all earned. In the late 1980s, the CMB divided all liner shipping activities into a new company, the CMB transport. In July 1991, sold the majority shareholder of CMB, the Societe Generale de Belgique, their shares in the holding company Almabo and their shipping company Exmar.
In 1995, the CMB has been taken over transport line with their activities of Compagnie Maritime Belge half of the South African shipping company Safmarine, which moved its headquarters to Antwerp, 1998, the remaining shares in the CMB took over transport and the CMB lines further led later than SCL. 1999 Safmarine was supported by the Danish shipping company AP Møller- Mærsk taken over, but decided to leave the Safmarine brand independently, instead of integrating them into the then firmierende as Maersk Sealand Maersk Line. Since 2000, Safmarine but no longer bore the name of Compagnie Maritime Belge further and replaced the line activities under the term CMB also formally.
The Compagnie Maritime Belge ( CMB) exists today as a shipping Holding / tramp shipping company and financial services provider.
Web sources
- History on the homepage of the CMB (English)
- Company history at Ocean Liner Museum ( English)
- Former shipping company ( Belgium)