 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source .(June 2010) |
 | |
| Company type | Naamloze vennootschap |
|---|---|
| Industry | Passenger transportation Freight transportation |
| Founded | 1875 |
| Defunct | 1989 |
| Successor | Stena Line BV |
| Headquarters | Hook of Holland, Netherlands |
Area served | North Sea |
Stoomvaart Maatschappij Zeeland (known as SMZ or in English as Zeeland Steamship Company ) was a Dutch ferry operator that ran services from the Netherlands to the United Kingdom between 1875 and 1989. [1]
The Stoomvaart Maatschappij Zeeland was founded in June 1875 and opened a service from Vlissingen to Sheerness in Kent on July 26 of that year. However, poor support led to the service being suspended for the following winter and re-opened on May 15, 1876 to nearby Queenborough.
The service was temporarily transferred to Dover in 1882 following a fire at the Queenborough pier.
At the request of the Dutch postal authorities the service was doubled in 1887 but the service suffered further disruption in 1897 due to flooding of the railway to Queenborough and another fire at the pier in 1900.
During this period, competition from the Great Eastern Railway's services to Harwich had grown and forced the company to invest in 3 new vessels from Fairfields of Govan.
In 1911 further new tonnage was introduced and they were placed on a service to Folkestone leaving older paddle steamers to service Queenborough, but as they were retired the operation to that port was ended.
At the outbreak of war in 1914 the service was switched to Tilbury, and following the war in January 1919 a daylight service was introduced to Gravesend.
In 1927 an agreement was reached with the London and North Eastern Railway to switch the service to Harwich, and that agreement was further enhanced in 1946 after World War II when services were moved to the Hook of Holland, the company's facilities at Flushing having been destroyed during the hostilities.
A secondary service from Vlissingen to Folkestone was introduced in 1949 but lasted only three seasons.
In the meantime, British Railways had taken over from the LNER at Harwich in 1948 and the service evolved to a full co-operation, the two companies providing the night [B.R.] and day [Zeeland] services respectively employing four ships plus two relief vessels. [1]
In 1968 with the introduction of car ferries, the SMZ and Sealink services were fully amalgamated. [2]
In 1989 Swedish ferry operator Stena Line acquired SMZ. The following year Stena Line also acquired SMZ's UK partner Sealink. The Harwich operations of Sealink were transferred to Stena Line BV.
The Western Scheldt in the province of Zeeland in the southwestern Netherlands, is the estuary of the Scheldt river. This river once had several estuaries, but the others are now disconnected from the Scheldt, leaving the Westerschelde as its only direct route to the sea. The Western Scheldt is an important shipping route to the Port of Antwerp, Belgium. Unlike the Eastern Scheldt estuary, it could not be closed off from the sea by a dam as part of the Delta Works. Instead, the dykes around it have been heightened and reinforced.
Stena Line is a Swedish shipping line company and one of the largest ferry operators in the world. It services Denmark, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Finland and Sweden. Stena Line is a major unit of Stena AB, itself a part of the Stena Sphere. It is a sister company to one of the world's leading tanker company Stena Bulk.
HMS Queen Emma was a commando troop ship of the Royal Navy during the Second World War. Built as a civilian passenger liner in 1939 by De Schelde at Vlissingen, she was named the MS Koningin Emma, after Queen Emma of the Netherlands, and operated by Stoomvaart Maatschappij Zeeland (SMZ) between Flushing and Harwich, along with her sister ship, MS Prinses Beatrix. After fleeing to Britain after the German invasion in 1940, she was requisitioned by the British Ministry of War Transport, renamed HMS Queen Emma and converted to a troopship at Harland and Wolff's yard in Belfast. During the war her main role was transporting British Commandos, and she participated in the Lofoten Islands Raid and the Dieppe Raid. She had the advantage of a high speed that allowed hit and run operations. Later designated as a Landing Ship, Infantry (Medium) she took part in the landings in North Africa, Sicily and Normandy. She operated in the Indian Ocean, and in the Dutch East Indies after the end of the war. In 1946 Queen Emma was returned to her owners and continued to operate as ferry from the Hook of Holland until 1969, when she was scrapped in Antwerp, Belgium.
Sealink was a ferry company based in the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1984, operating services to France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Isle of Man, Channel Islands, Isle of Wight and Ireland.
MV Duc de Normandie was a passenger car ferry built in 1978 as the Prinses Beatrix. She subsequently operated under the names Wisteria, Vronskiy and Damla.
MS Princess Seaways is a cruiseferry operated and owned by the Danish shipping company DFDS Seaways on a route connecting North Shields, England, to IJmuiden in the Netherlands. She was built in 1986 as Peter Pan by Seebeckwerft, Bremerhaven, Germany for TT-Line. Between 1993 and 2002, the ship was operated by TT-Line Company of Tasmania under the name Spirit of Tasmania a service across the Bass Strait. In 2002, the ship was sold to Fjord Line and renamed Fjord Norway for service from Denmark. In 2006, she was sold to DFDS Seaways and sailed as Princess of Norway before being given her current name in 2011.
The British Rail Class 99 was a fleet of train ferries, most of which were owned by Sealink, that carried rail vehicles between Britain and mainland Europe. When British Rail implemented the TOPS system for managing their operating stock, these ships were incorporated into the system in order to circumvent some of the restrictions of the application software. This allowed them to be counted as locomotives while carrying railway vehicles in the same way as a normal locomotive would haul a train.
Stoomvaart Maatschappij Nederland or SMN, also known as the Netherland Line or Nederland Line, was a Dutch shipping line that operated from 1870 until 1970, when it merged with several other companies to form what would become Royal Nedlloyd.
Stena Line Holland BV is a subsidiary of Stena Line that operates ferry routes between Harwich and Killingholme on the east coast of England and Hook of Holland and Europort in the Netherlands. The head office is in Hook of Holland in the Netherlands. Apart from during the two world wars there has been a continuous service operating between these two countries, initially by the railway companies serving the east coast of England together with Stoomvaart Maatschappij Zeeland a Dutch ferry company. In 1990 Stena Line had purchased both parts and Stena Line Holland BV came into being.
The MS Normandy was a ferry, last owned by the Singapore-based oil service company Equinox Offshore Accommodation, under charter to the Morocco-based ferry operator Ferrimaroc. She was built in 1981 by Götaverken, Gothenburg, Sweden, and first entered service in 1982 as MS Prinsessan Birgitta for Stena Sessan Line. She also served under the names MS St Nicholas and MS Stena Normandy.
MS GNV Cristal is a cruiseferry owned by the Italy-based SNAV and operated by their Grandi Navi Veloci brand. She was built in 1989 by Schichau Seebeckwerft in Bremerhaven, West Germany as MS Olau Hollandia for Olau Line. From 1994 to 2005 she sailed as MS Pride of Le Havre for P&O ferries. From 2005 to 2017 she operated as the SNAV Sardegna between Civitavecchia, Palermo and Olbia.
GNV Blu is a roll-on/roll-off ferry currently operated by Grandi Navi Veloci. She used to be owned by Stena Line and operated on the Karlskrona – Gdynia service. She was built in 1986 by Van der Giessen de Noord as MS Koningin Beatrix for SMZ. In 1989 she passed under Stena Line's ownership and in 2002 was renamed Stena Baltica. In 2013 she was sold to SNAV. On October 23, 2014, SNAV leased the ship to Panamanian company Ferry Xpress Panama to start operations on the Colon – Cartagena – Colon and Colon – Bocas del Toro – Colon routes. Since 2015 the vessel is operated by Trasmediterránea, and is currently used by Grandi Navi Veloci to serve the Bari–Durres route.
The GNV Atlas is a Peter Pan-class cruiseferry currently owned and operated by the Italian shipping company SNAV. She was launched on 28 October 1989 by Schichau Seebeckwerft in Bremerhaven, West Germany as Olau Britannia for Olau Line.
HMS Princess Beatrix was a commando troop ship of the Royal Navy during the Second World War. Built as a civilian passenger liner in 1939, she was named the MS Prinses Beatrix, after Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands, and operated by Stoomvaart Maatschappij Zeeland (SMZ) between Flushing and Harwich, along with her sister ship, MS Koningin Emma. After fleeing to Britain after the German invasion in 1940, she was requisitioned by the British Ministry of War Transport, renamed HMS Princess Beatrix and converted to a troopship at Harland and Wolff's yard in Belfast. During the war her main role was transporting British Commandos, and she participated in the Lofoten Islands Raid and the Dieppe Raid. She had the advantage of a high speed that allowed hit and run operations. Later designated as a landing ship, infantry (medium) she took part in the landings in North Africa, Sicily, Salerno, Anzio, and southern France. In 1946 Princess Beatrix was returned to her owners and continued to operate as ferry from Hook of Holland until 1969, when she was scrapped in Antwerp, Belgium.
Rigel II is a cruiseferry owned and operated by the Greek shipping company Ventouris Ferries. The vessel operates between Bari and Durres.
The Admiraal de Ruijter was an international train service linking Amsterdam with London.
The Benjamin Britten was an international train service linking Amsterdam with London. The train service was named after English composer Benjamin Britten due to his international status and his association with East Anglia, through which the service passes.
Queenborough Pier railway station was a railway station opened by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway in 1863. Initially serving for freight, it was extended in 1876 and opened for passengers. The passenger service ceased in 1914, due to World War I, although Admiralty passenger traffic continued to use the station. Attempts to reintroduce a passenger service post-WWI were unsuccessful. The station continued to serve freight traffic until the mid-1950s.
SS Koningin der Nederlanden was a Dutch passenger steamship. She was built in 1911 for Stoomvaart Maatschappij Nederland, which ran scheduled passenger and mail services between Amsterdam and Java.
SS Aquileia was a Dutch-built steamship that was launched in 1913 as the ocean liner and mail ship Prins der Nederlanden for Netherland Line. She ran scheduled services between Amsterdam and the Dutch East Indies until 1930, when she was laid up.
