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Maritime Houseflags Au-Az (Australia)

Austocean Pty Ltd
Austral Asia Line
Australasian Steam Navigation Company
Australasian United Steam Navigation Company
Austral-China Navigation Co. Ltd.
Australia Department of Transportation
Australian Coastal Shipping Commission/Australian National Line
Australian Offshore Services
Australian-Oriental Line Ltd.
Australian Pacific Shipping Pty. Ltd.
Australia-South America Line
Australian Tankships Pty. Ltd

See also:

Austocean Pty Ltd

March 1985 sighting
image by Neale Rosanoski, 16 Nov 2008

November 1985 sighting
image by Neale Rosanoski, 16 Nov 2008

The two ships involved in the gypsum/sugar cartage for CSR were managed by Austocean Pty Ltd and were under their colours involving a white flag and an "A" made up of treble lines, the upright ones being blue and the horizontal ones being purple and having a bit of a curve. First seen flown by the "Kowalka" in 3/1985 the letter was noted as taking all of the field but another sighting 11/1985 has it within the field which is also the version shown by The Log of 8/1985 which indicates that my first record may have been incorrect unless they were trialing different versions, the ships only having come into operation in 1984. Also there is a question over the shade of blue with The Log giving it as dark, almost black, whereas my record has it lighter, possibly due to light, fading through use or just because it looked "average". In 2004 the "Kowulka" changed its livery to that of its registered owner, Gypsum Resources Australia.
Neale Rosanoski, 16 November 2008

Austral Asia Line

image by Neale Rosanoski, 7 March 2010

Austral Asia Line. Can be regarded as an Australian service line in that it operates out of Brisbane though the originating company itself originally had its head office in the Netherlands [and it is owned by Cypriot Schoeller Holdings Ltd. ], the flag as seen flying by the "Cape Evered" in a photo showing an air sea red/orange rescue field with a blue border at chief and base and bearing the blue letters "AAL".
Neale Rosanoski, 7 March 2010

Australasian Steam Navigation Company

image by Jonathan Dixon, 5 Aug 2005

Australasian United Steam Navigation Company

image by Jonathan Dixon, 25 Apr 2005

The flag of the Australasian United Steam Navigation Company is a white saltire throughout, top and bottom 'quarters' red, hoist and fly blue. The Hunter's River Steam Navigation Company, started in the early 1840s, was taken over in 1851 by A.U.S.N., based in Sydney.
Source: http://merchant-navy-ships.com/index.php?id=8,0,0,1,0,0
Jonathan Dixon, 25 April 2005

According to information obtained from the Nautical Association of Australia Inc. publication The Log, the originating company of the Hunter [or Hunter's] River Steam Navigation Co. liquidated and reformed in 1851 as the Australasian Steam Navigation Co. with a flag diagonally quartered red and blue as confirmed by Liverpool Chamber of Commerce Sheet of 1885, Reed 1891 and Griffin 1895. In 1886 the company was acquired by British India Steam Navigation Co. Ltd. and the following year it was amalgamated with the Queensland Steam Shipping Co. to form the Australasian United Steam Navigation Co. Ltd. The Queensland Steam Shipping Co. had been formed in 1887 by BISN with its flag being red with a white saltire which was the BI colours and basic design in reverse. The new flag thus combined the two. From what I can make out from various comments the origin of the original companies was aimed against overseas companies such as BISN being involved in Australian trades. So, they came in through the back door. AUSN, although continuing to be involved and regarded as an "Australian" company and although shown as based in Sydney by Reed 1901, was actually set up in London and was a British company [Australian Coastal Shipping by Barry Pemberton 1979] and subsequent sources show this as the head office where as a BI subsidiary it ended up part of P&O and came to an end with the sale of its last ships in 1961.
Neale Rosanoski, 30 July 2005

Austral-China Navigation Co. Ltd.

image by Ivan Sache, 1 September 2015

Austral-China Navigation Co. Ltd. of Sydney appearing to have operated briefly around the end of the 1920s, folding in 1931, with a red flag bearing a white cross charged at the fesse point with a red star from The Log 8/1989.
Neale Rosanoski, 7 March 2010

From 1926 to 1930, employed two ships in a monthly line from Sydney to Hong Kong and China, returning via the Philippines and Sandakan.
[The Log 2/86]
Ivan Sache, 1 September 2015

Australia Department of Transportation

image by Neale Rosanoski, 7 March 2010

The Government of the Commonwealth of Australia Department of Transportation had what could be classed as a houseflag for use by its lighthouse tenders. There are two similar versions with The Log of 5/1990 showing blue with a yellow circle bearing an emblem of 3 black arrows which was said to have been used at various stages following the building of the lighthouse tenders in 1963/4, and the version shown by Loughran 1979 with the emblem being blue and narrower and more obviously recognisable which is said to date from 1972 when the Department of Transportation was formed by the merger of Civil Aviation and Shipping and Transport. The emblem is given as representing the three elements of land, sea and air transport for which the Department was responsible.
Neale Rosanoski, 7 March 2010

Australian Coastal Shipping Commission/Australian National Line

image by Jarig Bakker, 3 Aug 2004

From the link provided by Barbara Tomlinson of The National Maritime Museum http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections.html/:

The house flag of the Australian Coastal Shipping Commission, Melbourne. A flag with a white field bearing a blue cross. The letters 'ACSC' in red appear in the four quarters. The flag is made of a wool and synthetic fibre bunting. It has a cotton hoist and is machine sewn. A rope is attached. This design was in use from 1956 to 1968 when the initials 'ACSC' were replaced by 'ANL' in the first quarter.

The Commission was established by Act of Parliament on 1 October 1956 to take over and manage vessels previously under the control of the Australian Shipping Board. This body had been made responsible for the management of merchant vessels in government ownership as a result of wartime conditions. The registered name of the fleet was the Australian National Line. It extended its operations to Japan and Europe in 1969 and to other countries in the 1970s. In 1974 it became the Australian Shipping Commission and was replaced by the wholly government owned Australian National Line in 1989.

Jarig Bakker, 3 August 2004

In mid 1969 the flag was changed with the letters becoming "ANL" in red placed in the canton:
image by Miles Li, 26 April 2023

Then in 1984, after green and gold had officially been declared the Australian colours, the flag became white with a green cross and the gold letters "ANL" in the canton:
image by Miles Li, 26 April 2023

However these colours did not stand out and soon came under reconsideration. There was a report of a version with a light grey field but this was probably a weathered white and the real change was to a green field with a gold cross and lettering:
image by Miles Li, 26 April 2023

ANL Ltd., as it became in 1989, was dismantled by the Australian Government in 1998 with the name rights and overseas vessels being acquired by what is now CMA CGM Holdings. The name is still in use by this group as the subsidiaries ANL Container Line Pty. Ltd. and ANL Singapore Pte. Ltd. using chartered tonnage which still bear the ANL funnel colours but I have no knowledge of whether the flag still flies.
Neale Rosanoski, 30 July 2005

Australian Offshore Services

image by Eugene Ipavec, 23 May 2009

This State Library of Tasmania page shows the house flag of Australian Offshore Services (image is clickable):

Caption: “Medium white Australian Offshore Services flag with a light blue border. In the centre of the flag is a grey anchor.” Rather a silver? cross ending in an anchor’s flukes and sprouting four curves at the top.

Establised at Southbank, Victoria (south of central Melbourne) this company serves the offshore industry. My findings are scanty - there are offices at Darwin (active in towage, salvage, and wreck removal) and Perth (active in petroleum exploration).

It seems AOS, in existence since 1985 at least, were once owned by P&O, the current owner being Farstad of Norway. In any case the firm was instrumental in developing a safety code for offshore operations (see Acknowledgments and Introduction from the code).
Jan Mertens, 22 May 2009

image by Neale Rosanoski, 7 March 2010

Australian Offshore Services. A P&O company operating from around 1978 until the tenders etc were taken over by Farstad Shipping when they became managers and apparently by 2004 were also taken over by that company. Their flag was white with a blue border and a blue spouting anchor being shown by The Log of 5/1994.
Neale Rosanoski, 7 March 2010

Australian-Oriental Line Ltd.

image by Neale Rosanoski, 7 March 2010

Australian-Oriental Line Ltd. Shown by Lloyds as domiciled Sydney with later entries also giving Hong Kong and London, its actual country of registration is unclear. Probably UK though to all intents operating as an Australian company [where it was deregistered in 1963] it originated 1912 by G.S. Yuill & Co. Pty. Ltd. and traded until 1961 with a red flag charged with a white cross which bore a blue star at its fesse point. Sources The Log 7/1974 & 5/1986, Talbot-Booth 1936-1949, Brown 1951-1958 and one variation which is probably a printers error with Brown 1943 showing a black star.
Neale Rosanoski, 7 March 2010

Australian Pacific Shipping Pty. Ltd.

image by Neale Rosanoski, 7 March 2010

Australian Pacific Shipping Pty. Ltd. Formed Sydney in 1958 for the shipping of livestock from West Australia to Philippines but the ship was sold the following year when the expected trade did not eventuate. As shown by The Log 5/1993 the flag comprised horizontal bands of 4 blue and 3 white of differing width with a white undefined panel bearing the red letters "APS".
Neale Rosanoski, 7 March 2010

Australia-South America Line

image by Neale Rosanoski, 7 March 2010

Australia-South America Line. A trade name used by Heine Brothers (Australasia) Pty. Ltd. of Melbourne in the early 1960s and registered as a trade name in 1969, using chartered ships the flag as shown by The Log of 2/1986 shows blue with a white diamond and a red " H" with the horizontal arm being 3 offset forms [angled blocks] in blue outlined white whilst above is a small red " W" with the letters standing for the then principal of the owners, Walter Heine.
Neale Rosanoski, 7 March 2010

image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 9 April 2016

This varies from a version shown on a lighter [shown in Unidentified Flags & Ensigns 2008] where the diamond is shown being throughout the flag.
Neale Rosanoski, 7 March 2010

Australian Tankships Pty. Ltd

image by Neale Rosanoski, 7 March 2010

Australian Tankships Pty. Ltd. Formed in 1996 and based Sydney, it was taken over by Teekay Shipping Corporation in 1998 becoming Teekay Shipping (Australia) Pty. Ltd. For its short existence The Log 2/1997 shows a blue flag with a white horizontal oval bearing the lower case combined letters "a" [blue] and "t" [red].
Neale Rosanoski, 7 March 2010