Dutch Houseflags of Shipping Companies [i]

Last modified: 2018-12-15 by rob raeside
Keywords: insulinde | ikm |
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• Insulinde
• Internationaal Motor Transportbedrijf
• Internationale Kustvaart Maatschappij
• Interrijn
• Invotra
• ITC (old) - present
• IT Lemmer

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

Insulinde

Insulinde Tankstoomboot Maatschappij, Amsterdam - blue flag bordered red; white diamond with a black palmtree and black "OFI". Insulinde was an alternative name for the Dutch East Indies.
Source: Brown's Flags and Funnels of British and Foreign Steamship Companies, compiled by F.J.N. Wedge, Glasgow, 1926 [wed26]
Jarig Bakker, 27 January 2005

Internationaal Motor Transportbedrijf

IMT or Internationaal Motor Transportbedrijf (International Motorized Transport Co.) BV is a Dutch inland navigation firm established at Krimpen aan den IJssel, immediately to the East of Rotterdam.

Company website, English version available:
Some facts: founded in 1949, IMT is internationally active, as the name says, being a cooperative effort of private barge owners whose vessels – as we have seen in the case of other firms – range between 500 and 2500 metric tonnes.
Transporting bulk goods at first (steel, timber, metals…), IMT barges now also handle containers, agricultural bulk goods, etc.  According to above site, the company is active on an almost continental scale and quite able to track shipments over that area.

If I interpret its somewhat arty rendition aright, the house flag as shown on the site is blue with a white cross throughout and bears, in the centre, a white oval containing blue initials ‘IMT’.  At the top of the webpage, a barge with a very tiny – but recognizable – IMT flag appears (image is refreshed regularly)…
Jan Mertens, 15 May 2006

Internationale Kustvaart Maatschappij

Houseflag of N.V. Internationale Kustvaart Maatschappij, Rotterdam.
Image from Flagchart of houseflags of Dutch shipping companies, attached to the magazine "De Blauwe Wimpel", April 1956.
Jarig Bakker, 1 Feb 2001

Interrijn

This homepage is merely a placeholder for Interrijn BV, a Dutch inland navigation company at Zwijndrecht: but at least it shows the logo.  This is a parallelogram in a colour scheme resembling the national flag, only here the white middle stripe is reduced to a wave and the upper red one divided into vertical sections gradually diminishing towards the right.
See the logo transformed into a real flag on this Vlootschouw page (vessel ‘Mejana’).
As to the firm, I found that it transports construction site waste products, for example, and that it is probably related to 'Interrijn Harms Ro-Ro' known for automobile shipments from Germany (Ford) to other countries.
Hopefully the website will be up in the near future as it ought to yield more than the above.
Jan Mertens, 14 Sep 2006

Invotra

A source for today’s house flag (and more to come) is: Arne Zuidhoek: ‘Vrachtschepen van de wilde vaart’ (basically ‘Tramps’), De Alk, Alkmaar, 1999, 160 p., b/w ill. including house flags.  ISBN 90 6013 0782. A short chapter is dedicated to Rotterdam based ‘Invoer- en Transportonderneming INVOTRA NV’ (i.e. Import and Transportation Co. Invotra, Ltd) pp. 116-120. As you can see, the short name incorporates parts of the long one.
Founded in 1952 by brothers A.C. and M. Neleman, Invotra operated a fleet of small coasters transporting mainly coal and building materials. The firm also acted as agent, shipbroker, and forwarder, including inland. Ships’ names ended in "–singel" which, especially at Rotterdam, indicates a boulevard. At the end of 1962 Invotra was wound up; the fleet was taken over by P.A. van Es & Co.
The house flag may be seen on the nineteen-fifties chart found on this page (third of seventh row): (shown b/w on p. 116 of Zuidhoek’s book). Green field with an
inverted white chevron bearing company name “INVOTRA” in black letters without serifs; between the chevron’s arms appears a yellow sunburst of seven rays.
Jan Mertens, 28 Dec 2009

ITC (old)

Currently owned by Tschudi Shipping (NO), the Dutch towage company ITC ('International Transport Contractors') is established at Heemstede to the W. of Amsterdam.  Website (in English): Founded in 1973 to serve Tschudi & Eitzen’s interests as operators, ITC became part of the demerged Tschudi group in 2003 and specialized in ocean salvage and towage of large vessels, oil rigs or dry docks, etc.  Currently the firm owns ten ocean-going tugs working together following the “two towing tugs” concept, and stresses “its commitment to the non conventional marine industry”.
Fleet list showing vessels bearing sturdy names (plus four more under management): The ‘Activitities’ pages (see left menu) offer much interesting data on what ITC actually does, and how.
On a number of photos a blue house flag may be made out but first I would like to present what must have been its predecessor, seen – as a drawing – here (lower left of page): Horizontally divided white above orange, black company logo (stylized and joined initials ‘itc’ with a large stylized globe dotting the i) in the upper hoist; fimbriated white where it would have touched the orange stripe.
The real item (reduced pic), somewhat crumpled: found on Marktplaats (Dutch auction site) as no. 206026407 (accessed 5 Nov 2008), put up by “johan”living at Anna Paulowna.  He adds, interestingly, that this was the house flag - old model - of ITC when established at Haarlem, used in the ‘seventies and ‘eighties; the item itself has never been flown.
Jan Mertens, 3 Jun 2009

ITC present

The blue house flag mentioned above may be seen here flying on the tug ‘Mistral’: Blue field, the ITC letters & globe logo in white taking up much of the flag (left aligned though) and an orange stripe traversing the lower part of the flag. On the tug ‘Meltemi’  the stripe seems to touch the flag’s vertical edges.
Jan Mertens, 15 May 2006

IT Lemmer

Jan Mertens reported this link with mainly Dutch houseflags. IT Lemmer (Tankvaart) - red flag, white slanting horizontal stripe, charged with red "IT".
Jarig Bakker, 3 Mar 2005