Safmarine
Encyclopedia
Shipping
Shipping has multiple meanings. It can be a physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo, by land, air, and sea. It also can describe the movement of objects by ship.Land or "ground" shipping can be by train or by truck...
business offering container
Containerization
Containerization is a system of freight transport based on a range of steel intermodal containers...
and break-bulk shipping services worldwide.
Formed in 1946 by South African industrialists and American ship owners, Safmarine is now widely known as a north/south trade and Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n specialist. The line is represented in more than 130 countries throughout the world, with more than 1200 sailors selling their services. Safmarine has been headquartered and registered in Antwerp, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, since 1996, when it completed its acquisition of Belgian Line (CMBT). In 1999, Safmarine was bought by the Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
company A.P. Moller-Maersk Group
A.P. Moller-Maersk Group
A.P. Moller – Maersk Group , also known as Maersk , is a Danish business conglomerate. A.P. Moller – Maersk Group has activities in a variety of business sectors, primarily within the transportation and energy sectors. It is the largest container ship operator and supply vessel operator in the...
, and Maersk chose to retain the Safmarine brand rather than integrating it wholly into Maersk Sealand. In 2002, Safmarine acquired Torm Lines.
On October 3rd 2011, it was decided that Safmarine was to be fully integrated within Maersk Line.
http://www.prezencenewmedia.com/safmarine/info_detailed/index.php?AssetID=1626
Passenger services
Safmarine operated a passenger liner service between the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and South Africa in 1965—1977 and again in 1984—1985.
Safmarine passenger operations had begun in 1965, when two Union-Castle Line
Union-Castle Line
The Union-Castle Line was a prominent British shipping line that operated a fleet of passenger liners and cargo ships between Europe and Africa from 1900 to 1977. It was formed from the merger of the Union Line and Castle Shipping Line...
ships used on the Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
—Durban
Durban
Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...
service, and , were transferred to Safmarine in order to satisfy demands from the South African government. The ships were renamed S. A. Vaal and S. A. Oranje respectively, re-painted in Safmarine colours but continued on the same service as before. In 1969, both vessels were transferred from British to South African registry. During the 1970s the South African liner trade started to decline, mainly due to competition from the jet airplane and the rising success of the revolutionary new container ships, in carrying cargoes more efficiently and more economically than conventional, older vessels. Thus, in 1975 the S. A. Oranje - and her Union-Castle sister RMS Edinburgh Castle - were withdrawn and sold for scrapping. The popular RMS Pendennis Castle was also withdrawn in June 1976, leaving S. A. Vaal to remain with Union-Castle's (and the two smaller cargo/passenger mailships RMMV Good Hope Castle and RMMV Southampton Castle). In October 1977, both companies withdrew their passenger services and S. A. Vaal was sold to Carnival Cruise Lines
Carnival Cruise Lines
Carnival Cruise Lines is a British-American owned cruise line, based in Doral, Florida, a suburb of Miami in the United States. Originally an independent company founded in 1972 by Ted Arison, the company is now one of eleven cruise ship brands owned and operated by Carnival Corporation & plc...
, becoming their .
In 1984 Safmarine purchased the cruise ship
Cruise ship
A cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way...
from the West German
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
Hadag Cruise Lines
HADAG Seetouristik und Fährdienst
The HADAG Seetouristik und Fährdienst AG is a local public transport company in Hamburg, Germany. It owns and operates the ferries across the Elbe river, overseen by the Hamburger Verkehrsverbund...
. Following a refit she was used to revive the Southampton—Cape Town service, also making cruises out of South Africa and the United Kingdom between liner voyages. However, in service the Astor was found not to have enough speed to maintain the liner schedule, and Safmarine decided to order a new ship based on the same design from Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft in Kiel
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
, also to be named , to replace the first Astor. In preparation for the delivery of the second Astor, the first Astor was sold to the East German Deutsche Seerederei (via a West German intermediary), becoming their . Ultimately the second Astor never entered service for Safmarine, as the company decided to abandon their liner service in 1986. The second Astor, still under construction at the time, was sold to Marlan Corporation in January 1986.
Victory Class
Safmarine purchased three Victory ships from the USA, and after modifications to convert them from war use to general dry cargo, they entered service in 1947. They were named “Vergelegen”, “Morgenster”, & “Constantia”. These three ships enabled Safmarine to start a South African based cargo enterprise. They turned out to be very reliable and long lasting. In 1961 their names were changed to “South African Victory”, “South African Venture”, and “South African Vanguard”. In 1966 the prefix "South African" was changed to "S.A.". In the engine rooms there were two Babcock & Wilcox water tube boilers supplying super heated steam to two Westinghouse turbines geared down to a single shaft, giving 6,000 shp and a speed of 16 knots. For electrical power, two steam turbines drove DC generators.Global Class
The next four sister ships to brought into service were the “South African Trader”, “South African Pioneer”, “South African Transporter,” and “South African Merchant.” They were designed for carrying general dry cargo. They also had berths for 12 passengers. All were built in Scotland and entered service in the mid 1950s. In 1966 the prefix "South African" was changed to "S.A.". In the engine rooms there were two Yarrow water tube boilers supplying super heated steam to two Parson type turbines geared down to a single shaft, giving approximately 7,000 shp and a speed of 15 knots. For electrical power three Ruston Hornsby diesel engines drove DC generators.“S” Class
In 1961 the “South African Statesman”, “South African Seafarer”, and “South African Shipper” joined the fleet. They were designed for carrying general dry cargo, and were built in Scotland in the 1950s for the Clan Line then the Springbok Shipping Co. In 1966 they all had "South African" prefix changed to "S.A.". One of the most obvious features of these ships was the fitting of a distinctive cowl top on the funnel. In the engine room there were two Babcock & Wilcox water tube boilers supplying super heated steam to three Parson type turbines geared down to a single shaft, giving approximately 10,000shp and a speed of 17 knots. For electrical power three Ruston Hornsby diesel engines drove DC generators.Refrigerated motor ships (Dutch Built)
Three refrigerated motor ships “S.A. Langkloof “, “S.A. Zebediela”, and “S.A. Hexrivier” were built for the export of frozen fruit from South Africa to the UK and Europe. They were built in Dutch yards and entered service in early to the mid 1960s. They were powered by an eight cylinder M.A.N K8Z70/120 low speed two stroke diesel engine developing approximately 9,600 BHP and a speed of 17 knots. For electrical power four MAN diesel engines drove AC alternators.Refrigerated motor ships (Scottish Built)
Three refrigerated motor ships “S.A. Letaba”, “S.A. Tzaneen”, and “S.A. Drakenstein” were built for the export of frozen fruit from South Africa to the UK and Europe. They were built in Scotland and entered service in the mid 1960s. They had the same hull design as the dutch built ships as above but, with a different make of main engine, which was a nine cylinder B&W type two stroke low speed diesel engine developing approximately 9,650 BHP and a speed of 17 knots. For electrical power four MAN diesel engines drove AC alternators.Heavy lift ships
The following three sister ships were the heavy lift vessels in the Safmarine fleet, also for carrying general cargo. The “S.A.Van Der Stel”, “S.A. Weltevreden”, and the “S.A. Nederburg”. were all built by a Dutch company, and entered service in the mid 1960s. The S.A. Van Der Stel could lift 250 tons with her own derricks and the other two could lift 125 tons. They were all powered by a six cylinder M.A.N K6Z86/160 low speed two stroke diesel engine, developing approximately 14,000 BHP and a speed of 21 knots. For electrical power three M.A.N diesel engines drove AC alternators.These ships were modified in Japan in 1975/1976. An additional hold specially designed for containers approximately 100' long was added amidships. A new heavy lift derrick was added and loading points were added on deck for container mounting.
Alphen Class
These were the last of the dry cargo ships to be built in the 1960s for Safmarine.. The “S.A. Alphen” and “S.A. Huguenot” came into service in the mid 1960s, and later the “S.A. Constantia”, “S.A. Morgenster”, and the “S.A. Vergelegen” were built of the same design in Japan.S.A. Vergelegen was later modified in Germany with a Stulken derrick capable of lifting 250 tons. This class of vessel had the most pleasing lines of all the dry cargo ships built for the corporation. They were powered by a six cylinder Sulzer 6RND90 two stroke diesel engine developing 15,000 BHP giving them a speed of 21 knots. For electrical power two eight cylinder and two six cylinder M.A.N diesel engines drove AC alternators.
Container liveries
Safmarine's pre-buyout containers had the SAMU prefix, and since Maersk bought them new containers have appeared with the parent company marking, MSKU. Maersk kept the original Safmarine graphics but integrated them into a redesigned container.The old dry van pre-Maersk containers were blue with the Safmarine flag on each side and Safmarine in cursive writing on the back door. The older refrigerated containers had the cursive Safmarine writing on the sides. The newer dry van and reefer containers with the Maersk influence are darker blue (the reefers are white of course) with gigantic Safmarine cursive on the side as well as the flag. Where the 7 point star appears on each door on a Maersk container, the Safmarine flag appears for their containers. The Maersk container redesign for Safmarine makes their containers much more easily identifiable and, to many, more visually appealing. Before the "flag logo" pre-buyout containers, Safmarine did have 2 different container appearances that simply said "Safmarine" in different non-cursive fonts but did not feature the flag on the sides.
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