A long-term exhibition on eleven Amsterdam shipping companies from 1876 onwards opened at the IJmuider Zee- en Havenmuseum on 17 January. 1876 was the year of the opening of the North Sea Canal, to which IJmuiden also owes its name.
This article was written by SWZ|Maritime editor Gerrit J. de Boer, gerritjdeboer@kpnmail.nl. A longer version of this article (in Dutch) will appear in our February 2025 issue.
All ships of the eleven selected shipping companies had Amsterdam as their home port and most, with the exception of the ships of KPM and KJCPL, were a familiar sight in the North Sea Canal, between the piers and in the locks of IJmuiden. For the exhibition, the museum’s volunteers decorated the new Koopvaardijzaal over a year and a half with support from the Cooperating Maritime Funds (Samenwerkende Maritieme Fondsen).
Many IJmuiden residents also sailed or worked ashore for shipping companies such as the Koninklijke Nederlandsche Stoomboot Maatschappij (KNSM), Koninklijke Hollandsche Lloyd (KHL), Stoomvaart Maatschappij Nederland (SMN), Koninklijke Paketvaart Maatschappij (KPM), Koninklijke Java-China-Paketvaart Lijnen (KJCPL), Holland West-Afrika Lijn (HWAL), Hollandsche Stoomboot Maatschappij (HSM), Nederlandsche Stoomvaart Maatschappij Oceaan (NSMO), Stoomvaart Maatschappij Oostzee (SMO), the Reederij Amsterdam or still work for the Spliethoff Group. Reason for the museum to highlight these Amsterdam shipping companies in the opening exhibition of the new Koopvaardijzaal.
After a welcome speech by Cor Oudendijk, chairman of the foundation, Mr Huib van de Grijspaarde, CEO of the Spliethoff Group, performed the opening ceremony. Van de Grijspaarde is the great-grandson of the founder of the Spliethoff Group, Johan Fredrik Spliethoff (1880-1964), who founded the company in 1921.
Demise of liner shipping, rise of Spliethoff
Oudendijk, who himself sailed with NSMO and KJCPL, recalled the major Dutch shipping merger in 1970 that started the demise of major liner shipping from Amsterdam six years later. The SMN, KPM, KJCPL, HWAL, HSM and Reederij Amsterdam merged into the Royal Nedlloyd Group in Rotterdam, followed in 1981 by the KNSM and KHL. Meanwhile, NSMO had also disbanded in 1978 and SMO was liquidated in 1985.
During the period when the old Amsterdam shipping companies were gradually disappearing, Spliethoff actually started to expand. Herman Spliethoff (1909-1987), grandfather of Huib van de Grijspaarde, started the shipping department in 1946 with the 675-DWT Keizersgracht. With great perseverance, guts and daring, the shipping company continued to expand. When economic conditions in the cyclical shipping world were bad and shipbuilding prices were low, new ships were ordered or taken over.
Also read: Spliethoff takes over shipping company ForestWave
Fleet expansion and acquisitions
Spliethoff is a family business and is not bothered by a stock market listing. Growth under its own steam was the motto and to depend as little as possible on banks. This was implemented mainly from 1975, when new ships were ordered in series from the Japanese yard Miho Zosensho.
Further expansion was achieved through acquisitions: Sevenstar Yacht Transport (1985), Mammoet Shipping from Nedlloyd which continued as BigLift Shipping (2000), Wijnne Barends (2002), Transfennica Oy (2005) and Bore Oy (2016). Most recently, it acquired ForestWave Navigation (2024). These shipping companies retained their own identity and were incorporated into the Spliethoff Group and based in Amsterdam. Currently, Spliethoff manages 53 vessels, totalling 904,200 DWT.
The multi-purpose vessels feature tween decks and their own cranes with a maximum lifting capacity of 1400 tonnes in tandem. All vessels have “canal” names and sail under the Dutch flag. A series of eight 28,600-DWT L-series vessels were ordered late last year, the largest Spliethoff vessels to date. As of 1 January 2025, the Spliethoff Group comprises a total of 145 vessels with a tonnage of 1,785,700 DWT.
Also read: Spliethoff orders largest vessels to date
Bringing back memories
From each Amsterdam shipping company, nostalgic memories will be evoked by ship models, digital presentations, utensils and photographs of the shipping companies’ ships. Other topics in the renewed gallery include the ranks and stripes of seafarers, the permanent moorings in Amsterdam, such as the Java and KNSM island and the Rietlanden, shipyards (after 1876) in Amsterdam East and North, maritime training, and the loading and unloading of general cargo from the ships before the rise of containers.
It also tells the for many unknown, but very important role of Dutch merchant shipping in World War II including stories of survivors, sailing duty (Vaarplicht), convoy sailing and Liberty ships. Through the efforts of thousands of seafarers, the Allied forces were able to win the war.
The Nedlloyd merger, which was intended to curb increasing foreign competition and enable the transition from conventional to containers, ultimately failed. Nedlloyd was sold to Denmark’s A.P. Möller Group in 2005. Without Spliethoff, Amsterdam shipping would have become history.
IJmuider Zee- and Havenmuseum
Besides the exhibition covering Amsterdam’s merchant shipping, the museum features the history and development of the North Sea Canal and IJmuiden, fishing and maritime activities such as towing, rescue and pilotage, and industry in and around IJmuiden.
The IJmuider Zee- and Havenmuseum‘s regular opening days are: Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 13:00 to 17:00. Havenkade 55, 1973 AK IJmuiden. The exhibition “Amsterdam shipping companies from after 1876” (Amsterdamse Rederijen van na 1876) is a long-running exhibition.
Picture (top): Ship models at the IJmuider Zee- and Havenmuseum (photo by Gerrit de Boer/SWZ|Maritime).
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