Dutch Houseflags of Shipping Companies [n]

Last modified: 2014-10-04 by andrew weeks
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• Naess Shipping
• Nautiek
• Nederlandse Erts-Tankermaatschappij
• Nederlandse Norness Scheepvaart Mij
• Nederlandse Tank- en Paketvaart Maatschappij
• Nederlandse Vracht- en Tankvaart Mij
• Nederlands-Franse Scheepvaart Mij
• Neo Logistec Services
• Bunkerbedrijf Neptun
• Netherlands Government
• Netherlands Maritime Agencies
• Nieuwe Rotterdamse Sleepdienst
• Nieuwe Vlissingse Sleepdienst
• Nile Dutch Africa Line
• NISHM
• NIT
• Werf de Noord
• Noord-Brabant
• NSM

• Nederland
• Nederlandsche Koloniale Petroleum Maatschappij
• Nederlandsche Lloyd
• Nederlandsche Rijnvaart Vereeniging
• Nederlandsche Stoomboot Maatschappij
• Nederlandsch-Indische Stoomvaart Maatschappij
• Nederlandse Pacific Tankvaart (CALTEX)
• Nederlandse Scheepvaart Unie
• Van Nieuwpoort
• Van Nievelt, Goudriaan
• NIMV
• Noordzee
• Northsea Ferries
• NPRC
• Nyki Shipping

• The Netherlands
• The Netherlands - Index of all pages
• Houseflags of Dutch Shipping Companies
• Houseflags of Shipping Companies

Naess Shipping

Naess Shipping (Holland) B.V. (Diemen, NL); founded 1973.
Flag: red field, White diamond bordered black, black "N"
Source: Company website.
Dov Gutterman, 14 Oct 2003

Nautiek

N.V. Reederij "Nautiek", Rotterdam
Houseflag: five equally wide stripes of white and red; in the center of the central three stripes a white diamond fimbriated black, charged with black letter "B".
Image from Flagchart of houseflags of Dutch shipping companies, attached to the magazine "De Blauwe Wimpel", April 1956.
Jarig Bakker, 19 Oct 2003

Operated by W. Böhmers Scheepvaartbedrijf. In the mid 1970s the last vessel (they all had “Böhmer” family names) is shown in the ownership of Zeerederij H. Nefkens and operated by Böhmer Schepen B.V.
Neale Rosanoski, 7 Jan 2004

Nederlandse Erts-Tankermaatschappij

Nederlandse Erts-Tankermaatschappij N.V., Rotterdam (Managers Vinke & Co., Rotterdam).
Flag: three horizontal stripes of orange and black, proportioned 2:1:2, two white intertwined rings.
Source: Wyt's Digest of Dutch Shipping and Shipbuilding 1966.
Jarig Bakker, 19 Sep 2007

Nederlandse Norness Scheepvaart Mij

Nederlandse Norness Scheepvaart Maatschappij N.V., Amsterdam.
Flag: red field, white diamond, blue "N".
Source: Wyt's Digest of Dutch Shipping and Shipbuilding 1966.
Jarig Bakker, 19 Sep 2007

Nederlandse Tank- en Paketvaart Maatschappij

Houseflag of Nederlandse Tank- en Paketvaart Maatschappij, Amsterdam.
Image from Flagchart of houseflags of Dutch shipping companies, attached to the magazine "De Blauwe Wimpel", April 1956.
Jarig Bakker, 1 Feb 2001

Nederlandse Vracht- en Tankvaart Mij

Nederlandse Vracht- en Tankvaart Maatschappij N.V., The Hague,
Flag: red field, white hoistdiagonal, black standing foul anchor.
Source: Wyt's Digest of Dutch Shipping and Shipbuilding 1966.
Jarig Bakker, 17 Sep 2007

Nederlands-Franse Scheepvaart Mij

N.V. Nederlands-Franse Scheepvaart Maatschappij, Rotterdam.
Flag: blue field, red cross; in center white wheel.
Source: Wyt's Digest of Dutch Shipping and Shipbuilding 1966.
Jarig Bakker, 19 Sep 2007

Neo Logistec Services

NLS or Neo Logistic Services is a Dutch inland shipping firm established at Moerdijk, a small place between Dordrecht and Breda on the Hollands Diep, a former sea-arm where several rivers converge, leading straight into Zealand.

See following pages from Dutch IT supplier Autena, specialized in inland navigation, concerning the dedication and christening ceremony of two container ships belonging to NLS (second page reached by clicking “Meer foto’s” end of first page): On the photos the company logo is easily spotted: orange ground, black letters NLS flanked by three white horizontal stripes on either side.  On both pages we see logo flags, an extract of photo on second page, showing several flags at once.

We learn that NLS from that time on i.e. February 2002 operated eight container transport ships which is impressive, considering that the founding year was 2000; the fleet has expanded even more in the meantime. Both vessels, ‘ZKH de Prins van Oranje Willem-Alexander’ and ‘HKH Princess Maxima der  Nederlanden’, are featured on this Vlootschouw page (naming Bemmel as company seat!?).
Jan Mertens, 13 Nov 2006

Bunkerbedrijf Neptun

Dutch bunkering company 'Neptun' is based at Nijmegen on the River Waal (which, as we know, is the name given to the Rhine as soon as it crosses the German-Dutch border). Company website: A family business founded in 1926 with a view to servicing inland navigation, it is typical of its kind: fuel stock (no exclusivity), shop, and bunkering boats (in this case, two).
Vaguely visible on the boats shown on the site, the yellow-and black house flag is better viewed on the vessel ‘Duc in Altum’ (Vlootschouw page); on another Vlootschouw page, vessel ‘Vigilia’ (see drawn version lower on page), and here, on the ‘Abel-Niels’.
Horizontally divided yellow-black-yellow, ‘NEPTUN’ company name in yellow serifed letters on black stripe.
See also the old Nijmegen city flag (1953-1994) which may well have been the source of above house flag, while Neptune is the Roman sea-god.
Jan Mertens, 28 Oct 2006

Netherlands Government

Netherlands Government, Rotterdam - orange flag, at 1/3 flagheight three equally wide horizontal stripes of red, white and blue.
Source: Scott, R.M., The Caltex book of Flags and Funnels, Capetown, Caltex Africa Ltd. (1959).
Jarig Bakker, 10 Jan 2005

The flag is confirmed, though shown with the triband slightly lower so that the red and white only are in upper half, by an article, which is probably in De Blauwe Wimpel, by L.L. von Münching. The date of it appears to be 1960, the pages are 236-238 and it appears that it was used by emigrant ships to and from Indonesia post WW2.
Neale Rosanoski, 22 Jan 2005

Scheepvaart Maatschappij Trans-Oceaan 's-Gravenhage

After World War 2 the Dutch Government purchased three Victory ships which were converted into troop transport ships by the United States and renamed them WATERMAN, ZUIDERKRUIS and GROOTE BEER. The WATERMAN and ZUIDERKRUIS were managed by Koninklijke Rotterdamsche Lloyd and the GROOTE BEER was managed by Stoomvaart Maatschappij Nederland.

They were used on the route Holland-Netherlands East India (NEI) to carry troops to the Dutch colony to restore the peace after the Japanese surrender when the Archipelago was in a turmoil. After the independence of the Republic Indonesia in 1948 all the Dutch troops were repatriated and a repatriation started of Dutch civilians who left Indonesia for Holland. In 1951 after this was completed, the three ships were rebuilt into emigrant carriers because many Dutch people decided to build a new life in countries like Australia, Canada and New Zealand and after the rebuilding the ZUIDERKRUIS was also managed by Stoomvaart Maatschappij
Nederland. After negotiations between the Dutch Government, Koninklijke Rotterdamsche Lloyd and Stoomvaart Maatschappij Nederland the shipping company Scheepvaart Maatschappij Trans Oceaan at s’-Gravenhage was founded in 1960 and the three ships were taken over by the new company.

In 1963 the emigrant transportation nearly came to an end and the GROOTE BEER and WATERMAN were sold to J. Latsis, Greece and used for cruises in the Mediterranean and the ZUIDERKRUIS went to the Dutch Navy as an accommodation ship. The shipping company Scheepvaart Maatschappij Trans Oceaan was later sometimes used by the Holland America Line to make student travel cruises with passenger ships under the flag of the Scheepvaart Maatschappij Trans Oceaan.
Source: this webpage.

Somewhere in the 1960's the Waterman was chartered by supporters of the Footballclub Feijenoord to transport them to Lisbon in order to watch FC Benfica - Feijenoord, accompanied by a Tango/Rumba Orchestra - it was the longest returnvoyage ever...
Jarig Bakker, 15 Nov 2007

Netherlands Maritime Agencies

Netherlands Maritime Agencies (Rotterdam) / Marco Shipping Netherlands.
Flag: horizontal tricolour of greyish green - dark red - blue with white letters shifted to the hoist in each stripe. From top to bottom: "nfa", "nma" and "msn".
Jorge Candeias, 14 Mar 1999

Source: Company's website.
Dov Gutterman, 21 Feb 1999

Nieuwe Rotterdamse Sleepdienst

Briefly mentioned under ‘Piet Smit Sleepdienst’, ‘Nieuwe Rotterdamse Sleepdienst’ (i.e. “New Rotterdam Towage Service”) was a joint effort of tug owners to provide towage in the port of Rotterdam. The need arose in the nineteen sixties and following firms contributed: Smit & Co., Scheepvaartmij. Tros (unknown to me), Piet Smit Jr, Verenigde Onafhankelijke Sleepdienst, Stoomsleepboot Cosmopoliet (ditto), Mars Steamtugs, Stoomsleepdienst Maas, Hudig & Veder, Maatschappij Binnenvaart and last but not least, Phs. van Ommeren.
Above list provided by this webpage. Exact dates are not yet known to me, however the house flag – in the national colours – was characteristic enough.  See it in the last four photos on this page; Josef Nüsse shows the table flag, providing exact detail: (last photo of page). Gyronny of twelve pieces starting from a small black
ring in the centre; counted from top centre, RWBWRWB etc. White always separates red from blue; logically, six pieces are white whereas red and blue have three pieces each.
Jan Mertens, 21 Aug 2007

Nieuwe Vlissingse Sleepdienst

I stumbled over a Dutch tugboat recently – namely ‘De Ruyter’ at one time operated by the NV. Nieuwe Vlissingse Sleepdienst (i.e. New Flushing Towage Service) at Vlissingen, Zeeland province. See second photo of this Tugspotter page: showing a house flag repeating, up to a point, the funnel design: horizontally divided blue-orange-blue, narrow white stripes edging the central one. The funnel adds the stylized company acronym on a white disk.
The short-lived firm is presented by Nico J. Ouwehand in this on-line pdf file (in Dutch).
Just summarizing: founded by the well-known Smit Internationale and Smit-Spido at Vlissingen in 1971, taking over three tugs from SHV or Steenkolen Handelsvereeniging. First general manager was J.D. Wilton of both NRS (Nieuwe Rotterdamse Sleepdienst) and Spido, some tugs of NRS soon being added to help the new company. However the 1988  restructuring of Smit Internationale joined all towage operations under the name ‘Smit Haven’ using the Smit house style.
Jan Mertens, 31 Dec 2007

Nile Dutch Africa Line

Jan Mertens reported this link with mainly Dutch houseflags. Nile Dutch Africa Line.
Flag: white field; in center blue "nds"; in bottom blue "NILE DUTCH AFRICA LINE".
Jarig Bakker, 3 Mar 2005

NISHM

N.V. Nederlandsch-Indische Steenkolen Handel-Maatschappij (Dutch-Indian Coal Trading Company), Amsterdam.
Flag: quartered green and red; white diamond, black "N.I.S.H.M."
Source: Brown's Flags and Funnels of British and Foreign Steamship Companies, compiled by F.J.N. Wedge, Glasgow, 1951, [wed51].
Jarig Bakker, 30 Jan 2005

NIT

Nederlandsch Indische Tankstoomboot Maatschappij, The Hague.
Flag: red over blue; white diamond, yellow "N.I.T.".
Source: Brown's Flags and Funnels of British and Foreign Steamship Companies, compiled by F.J.N. Wedge, Glasgow, 1926 [wed26]
Jarig Bakker, 28 January 2005

Werf de Noord

The following site relates how the many shipyards and ship repair companies fared at Alblasserdam, a Dutch town on the River Noord, near Dordrecht, one of which was Werf (wharf) de Noord, founded in 1904 by J.U. Smit and two namesakes. The first boom period was WWI, when the Netherlands were neutral and built ships for Scandinavian countries, also neutral; after the war, de Noord helped reconstitute the depleted merchant fleets.

Having suffered in 1940, the company thrived after WWII, building various kinds of ships such as freighters, passenger ships, and minesweepers.  In 1962, de Noord merged with Van der Giessen, a wharf based at Krimpen aan de IJssel, to become ‘Van der Giessen – de Noord NV’.

The end of the Cold War around 1990 led to the terminanation of military vessel construction, while 9-11 indirectly led to a serious drop in the demand for ferry ships.  In 2003, the company was wound up due to lack of orders.

Shown as a drawing on above page, the house flag – probably the one in use before the merger – can be described as horizontally striped white-blue-white and having an additional blue stripe along the staff.   The caption mentions festive occasions for showing the flag explaining, I suppose, the presence of a narrow and long pennant, split, rendered in gold.

Background information, very critical, on the end of Van der Giessen-de Noord (in Dutch): In the middle of this page, two Alblasserdam monuments to the company i.e. shipbuilders and the “tulip” symbolizing the business departments, respectively.
Jan Mertens, 12 Dec 2006

Noord-Brabant

First seen on the Vlootschouw pages, the Rotterdam-based freighting company Noord-Brabant BV (well, Rotterdam is not in Noord-Brabant), flies a blue flag bearing the provincial arms of its namesake plus the company name and place for good measure.
See the tiny drawing here, for instance (vessel ‘Ardito’).
But then there was this nice photo seen here (rather down the page): Christening of the ‘Century’ on 30 April 2005, photos by René Keuvelaar.
Direct link, also showing the Ruycontrans flag: From this photo it is clear that the complete provincial arms are indeed in the centre with the company name NOORD-BRABANT B.V., in white letters, placed in a bow above them and the place name ROTTERDAM, also in white letters, below. See also FOTW-ws for the arms, with no motto in sight even though the house flag shows one.  It just says ‘Noord-Brabant’!
Unfortunately I have found precious little information on this firm.  The German branch has a website of sorts.
Jan Mertens, 9 Jul 2006

NSM

Nationale Stoomvaart Maatschappij, Rotterdam.
Flag: horizontal triband red - white - blue, proportioned c. 2:3:2; on white "NSM" in black.
Source: Brown's Flags and Funnels of British and Foreign Steamship Companies, compiled by F.J.N. Wedge, Glasgow, 1926 [wed26]
Jarig Bakker, 27 January 2005