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Schaldis (Shipping company, Belgium)

Last modified: 2006-11-19 by ivan sache
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[House flag of Schaldis]

House flag of Schaldis - Images by Eugene Ipavec, 6 August 2006


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Presentation of Schaldis

When in 1885 Antwerp ship broker M.B. De Vleeschouwer died, his partners continued the firm, founded in 1873, as De Clerck-Van Hemelrijck. In 1891 they founded the S.A. Belge de Navigation â Vapeur Scaldis and attracted a third partner, Willem Geurts, in 1893. This company was active in coastal shipping. On the death of his father Willem (1927) his son René took over the business, renaming it Armement René Geurts. Iron ore and steel products were shipped from the Ruhr, in Germany, to Bristol, destined for the Birmingham steelworks. During the Second World War, the two Geurts ships remained active in British coastal waters. In 1975 the company was wound up.

Source: R. Baetens & A. De Vos. Antwerpens maritiem verleden, Antwerp, 1990

Jan Mertens, 12 June 2006


House flag of Schaldis

The house flag of Dens is shown as #110, Van Hemelrijck & Geurts (Schaldis S.S. Co.), in Lloyd's book of house flags and funnels of the principal steamship lines of the world and the house flags of various lines of sailing vessels, published at Lloyd's Royal Exchange. London. E.C. (1911), also available online thanks to the Mystic Seaport Foundation. The flag is horizontally divided white-red, the Antwerp colours, and has a Belgian flag in the hoist; in the centre of the flag is a white lozenge or diamond containing the name SCHALDIS in black letters - the diamond is shown enclosed in black holding lines.

Baetens & De Vos give Scaldis, which is the Latin name for the Scheldt, Antwerp's lifeline. There was, however, a Belgian three-master called Schaldis in the 1860s; Schaldis seems to be an ancient name for the Scheldt, evidently derived from the classic Latin Scaldis.

Jan Mertens & Ivan Sache, 11 July 2006