Compagnie Maritime Belge - CMB

(Belgian Line)

(Est. 1895)


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The CMB was founded in 1895, under the name '
Compagnie Belge Maritime du Congo (CBMC). At the request of King Leopold II of Belgium and with support from British investors, a maritime connection was opened with Congo Free State. On the 6th February 1895 the CMB ship Léopoldville was the first to leave port of Antwerp for Congo. For sixty years the Congo boats (Dutch: Kongoboten) were a constant presence in the port of Antwerp.

In 1930, CBMC acquired the Lloyd Royal Belge, another Belgian shipowner. The name of the new company became CMB, and new lines were opened towards America and the Far East. In 1960, the company Armement Deppe was acquired, and between 1975 and 1982 gradually also the tramp shipping company company Bocimar. In July 1991 the Societe Generale de Belgique, until then the main shareholder of the CMB, sold its shares to the holding company Almabo and his shipping society Exmar, led by Marc Saverys.

In 1996 Compagnie Maritime Belge (Belgian Line) was acquired by Safmarine and they moved their headquarters to Antwerp in Belgium.  In 1999, Safmarine was bought by the Danish shipping company A.P. Moller-Maersk Group, and Maersk chose to retain the Safmarine brand rather than integrating it wholly into Maersk Sealand (now Maersk Line). In 2000 Safmarine phased out the Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB) brand and another well known shipping company disappeared due to mergers and consolidation within the shipping industry and globalisation. It was the end of a glorious era.


Safmarine
www.safmarine.com

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



        (c) Cruise Ship History Collection 2018 including www.thecunarders.co.uk                                                                                                                                                                              A Edward Elliott