WesWorld

Belgian Fruit Lines (BFL)
When the Kongo was property of the Belgian monarch, Belgium got most of its fruits from this source. However, since 1906, supply has been dominated by Dutch companies and deliveries have been made in relatively slow ships to Belgium. For years fruit importers complained that the fruit was prematurely ripe fruit during much of the journey and overripe when it arrived in Antwerp. In 1945, an importer, Gerard Verhaeghe of Frugro, along with the managers of Leon Van Parijs (LVP), Gerard Koninck Fréres (GFK) and Sander van Spiers (Fives) investigated in Nordmark refrigerated ships. They then acquired a lease on one ship and formed Belgian Fruit Lines with Antwerp as home port. All ships’ names begin with Frubel. In 1948, BFL ordered the Frubel Monica from John Cockerill SA as its first new-build refrigerated fruit carrier.

Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB)
One of the oldest Antwerp ship-owners, controlled by the Saverys family. CMB was founded in 1895 as the Compagnie Belge Maritime du Congo (CBMC) at the request of King Leopold II of Belgium with support from British investors. The company adopted its current name in 1910. In 1930, CBM acquired Lloyd Royal Belge. Trade with the Kongo remains important but the company now has routes to the East Indies, India, South Africa and South America. It operates a fleet of eighteen cargo-passenger ships plus a few coastal coasters.

Red Star Line
The Red Star Line or Société Anonyme de Navigation Belge-Americaine (SANDBA) was founded by Americans Jules Bernard von der Becke and William Edward Marsily, who had trade links in Antwerp. In 1872, they began transporting oil from the United States to Europe and paassengers on the way back. The American government banned the oil transport ships, so the Red Star Line focused on passenger transport. It began a regular service between Antwerp and New York and sometimes between Antwerp and Philadelphia. The Company is owned by the International Mercantile Marine Company. In its peak year in 1913 it carried 70,075 passengers in third class only. As transatlantic traffic has declined, so has the fortunes of the company, though it still operates several ships, these days mainly for the tourist and second-class trade.

Regie voor Maritiem Transport
This is a state-owned ferry service on the Ostend-Dover route which operates under the name Oostende Lines. The first service began on 4 March 1846, with the paddle steamer Chemin de Fer.
Owing to the great competition with lines serving Calais, Dunkirk, Zeebrugge, Antwerp, Rotterdam and Hoek van Holland, RMT upgraded their fleet through the years, from paddle steamers to turbine steamers and diesel motor vessels. Many of the line's ships have been built by Cockerill at Antwerp. RMT's first turbine steamer was the Princesse Elisabeth introduced in 1905 and the first diesels ferry, the Prince Baudouin, arrived in 1934. During the Great War, the turbine steamer Jan Breydel evacuated Elisabeth of Bavaria, Queen of Belgium and the royal children on 28 August 1914 and other RMT vessels evacuated diplomats, troops and important officials before the fall of Antwerp. Those ships in British ports when the occupation began saw service with the British crossing the Channel as troop ships and hospital ships. Post-war, when RMT began transporting cars and lorries, they had to loaded on and off the steamer's aft deck using a quay crane. The first Roll On-Roll Off ferry in service was the rebuilt turbine steamer Ville de Liège in 1936. In 1949, three new motor vessels were taken into service.

Union Remorquage et de Sauvetage S.A. (URS)
Danish Captain Henri Gerling settled in Antwerp in 1866 and in 1870 founded the Société Anonyme Remorquage Hélice (SARH). It started with a fleet of six steam-powered tugs. In 1874 Gerling formed his company into a limited liability company, together with the Antwerp businessmen John Pickard Best and Walter Ludwig. A cooperation agreement with the JB Maas tug company was made in 1890, and in 1898 JB Maas was totally acquired. In 1908, the tug President de Leeuw with a 1085hp engine was brought into service. At the beginning of the Great War the company had a fleet of 34 tugs. A large part of the fleet emigrated to Britain; during the war four tugs were lost. In 1923, with the support of Rotterdam Wm. H. Müller N.V., the Towage Letzer company was established with fifteen tugboats. In 1928, both companies merged to form the current company. Within ten years it had a fleet of fifty vessels.