Dutch Houseflags of Shipping Companies [w]

Last modified: 2006-07-08 by jarig bakker
Keywords: wagenborg | walvisvaart | wim | westpolder | wijklijn | wijnne & barends |
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• Wagenborg Shipping
• Walvisvaart
• Waterweg, Den Helder burgee and houseflag
• van der Wees
• West-Indische Maildienst - other
• Westpolder
• Wijgula
• Wijklijn
• Van Wijngaarden Marine Services
• Wijnne & Barends
• Bureau Wijsmuller - new flag

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

Wagenborg Shipping

Quartered per saltire in red (above and below) and white (hoist and fly). A black chimney with two white stripes longitudinally centered and based at the bottom.
Jorge Candeias, 21 March 1999

(Source: Company's website)
Al Fisher, 13 February 1999

Walvisvaart

Houseflag of N.V. Nederlandsche Maatschappij voor de Walvisvaart, 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 Maatschappij voor de Walvischvaart N.V. Other sources [after 1956] show the cantons bands being equal and the letters being separated whilst US Navy 1961 shows a very large "W" only positioned mid fly.
Neale Rosanoski, 25 Sep 2003

Waterweg, Den Helder

Jan Mertens reported this link. Waterweg, Den Helder - burgee horizontal BWB; in center red "W" fimbriated white.
Rederij Waterweg bv is one of the biggest shipping companies in Europe which is specialized in dredging support and several other tasks in coastal waters, all over the world (e.g. Sakhalin).
Jarig Bakker, 9 Mar 2005

Waterweg houseflag

Gerard van der Vaart has been involved in a project for the preservation of a tugboat in Maassluis (Zuid-Holland province). He took several pictures of flagged tugs (mostly signalling flag), with in the center houseflags of tugging companies.
Waterweg, Den Helder - Argentine-like flag with red "W" shifted towards the hoist. Shipmate made several flags for this company, none with the white fimbriation, as shown on FOTW. Probably the white fimbriation is only used for tableflags.
Jarig Bakker, 17 Apr 2005

van der Wees

More specifically ‘A. van der Wees & Co. B.V. Schroefboot & Transportonderneming’, Dordrecht (the last part meaning ‘Screw-Driven Boat & Transport Company’), this firm is featured in “Duwvaart” by Jansen & Van Heck, pp. 109-111.

Website of the Van der Wees group concerning water transportation, with an English section (click Union Jack) I’m quoting from:
“As a transport company founded in 1907 specializing in transport on the inland waterways between Delft and Dordrecht in The Netherlands, we have grown into a leading player on the European Exceptional Transport Market.
The Roll-on Roll-off principle, widely known on English Channel ferries, has been developed for European river and canal purposes using flattop as well as drive-in pontoons (…)  Our flattop pontoons are all certified for seagoing purposes, enabling us to carry out international transport crossing North European seas or beyond. (…)  In addition to executing transports of for instance transformers, turbines, harbour cranes, vessels, columns and airplanes we have regularly assisted the installation and removal of bridges and roro link spans.”
Just clicking on the thumbnails in the sections ‘Boten’, ‘Pontons’ and ‘Projecten’ leads you to an impressive array of various sailing and floating vessels.
Jansen & Van Heck give a detailed company history, I’ll just add some highlights to the above.  Founder’s name was Abraham van der Wees. Worked for Shell starting 1917, transporting oil drums.  Engaged in passenger transport immediately after WWII as bridges, roads and railways were damaged.  Push navigation since 1961.  Relocated from Delft to Dordrecht in 1970.
The flag as shown by above authors in b/w is described as being brown with a yellow initial W plus yellow waves and curlicues (placed beneath the letter). As the
Van der Wees group also has an interest in road transport, we find both means of transportation symbolized by the waves resp. the wheel shapes.
Jan Mertens, 27 Feb 2006

West-Indische Maildienst

Koninklijke West-Indische Maildienst (Royal West-Indian Mailservice), Amsterdam; founded 1882, services to the West-Indies and New York (US), after image from Brockhaus' Konversations-Lexikon, 14th ed., c. 1907. White with red St. Andrew's Cross; top: red Crown, in hoist, fly, and bottom red letters W.I.M.
Jarig Bakker, 19 Oct 2003

"Sandy Hook's 1930 W.I.M. flag is small, but there are no dots after the letters.  Furthermore, the crown is yellow in this version but that may be a mistake... or has it anything to do with the line becoming 'Royal'?
Jan Mertens, 14 Nov 2003

Griffin 1895, Lloyds 1904 and 1912 and Liverpool Journal of Commerce 1909 sheet all show red charges but Brown 1926 changes the crown to yellow. The name renamed the same throughout. Of these only Lloyds 1904 shows dots after the letters.
Neale Rosanoski, 7 Jan 2004

West-Indische Maildienst - other

Koninklijke West Indische Maildienst, Amsterdam (Royal West-Indian Mailservice) - white flag, red saltire; in top yellow crown; at hoist, fly and bottom "WIM".
Source: Brown's Flags and Funnels of British and Foreign Steamship Companies, compiled by F.J.N. Wedge, Glasgow, 1926 [wed26].
Jarig Bakker, 17 Jan 2005

Westpolder

Houseflag of N.V. Stoomvaart Maatschappij "Westpolder", Rotterdam.
Image from Flagchart of houseflags of Dutch shipping companies, attached to the magazine "De Blauwe Wimpel", April 1956. Same flag and funnel used by Cornelders Scheepvaart Maatschappij.
Jarig Bakker, 1 Feb 2001

N.V. Stoomvaart Maatschappij "Westpolder". Sources vary with the colour of the letter. Talbot-Booth 1942 and 1944 gives it as green for describing the design appearing as a panel on the funnel, not showing the actual flag but normally they would be identical. Later ABC Foreign Coastal Freighters for the funnel panel gives a black "W" and this is supported for both panel and actual flag by Wyt's Digest of 1960. Presumably this adds up to it being a very dark shade, whichever the colour.
Neale Rosanoski, 25 Sep 2003

Wijgula

Briefly mentioned in “Duwvaart” by Jansen & Van Heck, p. 138, Wijgula really means Wijnhof & Van Gulpen & Larsen. First established in Amsterdam and then 1972-1982 in Nijmegen, the company is now based at Druten.
Company website (with English section) followed by quote from ‘Business profile’:
“Since its establishment in 1922, Wijgula B.V. has become one of the leading inland tank-barging companies specialising in the transportation of various bulk liquid products.  For our customers we manage a fleet of 42 modern tankships varying in size and onboard equipment. Our fleet has a total loading capacity of 49,000 mt and a tank volume of 40,000 cbm.  (…) Wijgula BV Druten is a subsidiary of the Imperial Reederei-Group, in which Imperial Logistics GmbH, Duisburg, has a controlling interest.”
The firm stresses the fact that it uses double-hull tankers.
This page (in Dutch) contains additional information, relating among other things the accidental meeting of a young German, Hans Larsen, with Mr Van Gulpen who ran a chemical business in Amsterdam together with his business partner, Mr Wijnhof.  The three men founded the firm in 1922 and soon started shipping sulphuric acid; other chemical substances were to follow.  (Although the name ‘Wijgula’ recalls their names, in the beginning this was merely the telegraph address.)   In 1991 the company became part of Haniel Reederei in Duisburg, Germany, currently Imperial Reederei.
Jansen & Van Heck show the house flag in b/w and describe it as an orange triangular pennant with a black cylinder (perhaps a drum, jm) bearing white initials ‘WGL’.  Wijgula’s website does not show this pennant very clearly or prominently but the photo on this webpage gives an idea.
Jan Mertens, 2 Mar 2006

Druten is in Gelderland province on the river Waal, opposite the former nuclear plant of Dodewaard, which was closed in the 1970's after huge demonstrations.
Jarig Bakker, 3 Mar 2006

Wijklijn

Stoomvaart Maatschappij "Wijklijn", Rotterdam - houseflag: white with a Green St. Andre's Cross; the field at the hoist charged with a black letter "E"; at the fly a black letter "D". Flown 1901-1987; ED stand for Erhardt & Dekkers.
Source: houseflagchart attached to the magazine "De Blauwe Wimpel", April 1956.
Jarig Bakker, 18 Oct 2003

This was only one of the companies under which Erhardt & Dekkers registered their ships, being the most appropriate with vessel names having the suffix “wijk”. For some reason Dutch sources have noted the livery under one or more of these subsidiaries rather than the owner which would be more appropriate.
Neale Rosanoski, 7 Jan 2004

Van Wijngaarden

Van Wijngaarden Marine Services BV at Sliedrecht, on the Beneden ("lower") Merwede River, presents itself as a company operating tugs, tow/push vessels, survey boats, pontoons equipped with cranes, etc.

As the above vessels may be chartered, Van Wijngaarden helps out various dredging and construction companies around the world.  The menu on the left side of the site leads to descriptions and photos, some of them rather impressive, detailing the kinds of services offered.

The company logo is an orange square bearing a blue ‘vW’ monogram, the ‘v’ nestling inside the ‘W’ the left arm of which ends in an arrowpoint. Extended into a rectangle, it serves as the house flag which is seen on the tug ‘IJsselstroom’. I'm afraid the choice of colours is debatable.
Jan Mertens, 29 Apr 2006

...remarkably similar to the logo of Volkswagen!
James Dignan, 22 May 2006

Wijnne & Barends

Wijnne & Barends' Cargadoors- en agentuurkantoren BV. Originated 1855 as Wijnne Barends N.V. changing name at end of last century. The original flag was white with the black letters "W&B" which was changed to the version shown 4/1968. Brown 1978 shows a red version which I would normally regard as a printing error but the Josef  Nüsse's site also shows this coloured flag making its actual existence possible.
Neale Rosanoski, 25 Sep 2003

Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels Shipping Companies of the World, compiled by J.L. Loughran, Glasgow, 1995 [lgr95].
Wijnne & Barends B.V., Delfzijl - triband of white and orange; on orange two narrow bent white lines; at hoist white "W", at fly white "B". The company website shows its logo without top and bottom white stripe, while it has topleft a waving flag with red instead of orange, and clearly visible white bottom and top stripes.
Jarig Bakker, 23 Sep 2005

Wijsmuller B.V.

Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels Shipping Companies of the World, compiled by J.L. Loughran, Glasgow, 1995 [lgr95] Wijsmuller B.V., IJmuiden - blue flag, white disk, black "W".
Jarig Bakker, 6 Jan 2006

Bureau Wijsmuller

N.V. Bureau Wijsmuller, IJmuiden (a towing company).
Houseflag: three horizontal stripes red - white - blue; in the center an elongated white hexagon charged with B.W. in black
Image from Flagchart of houseflags of Dutch shipping companies, attached to the magazine "De Blauwe Wimpel", April 1956.
Jarig Bakker, 22 Oct 2003