Compagnie Maritime Belge

The Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB) is one of the oldest Antwerp ship-owners.

History

The CMB was founded in 1895 under the name 'Compagnie Belge Maritime du Congo (CBMC). At the request of Leopold II of Belgium and with support from British investors, a maritime connection was opened with Congo Free State. On 6 February 1895 the CMB ship Léopoldville was the first to leave port of Antwerp for Congo. For sixty years the Congo boats (Flemish: Kongoboten) were a constant presence in the port of Antwerp.

In 1930 CBMC acquired Lloyd Royal Belge, another Belgian shipowner. The name of the new company became CMB, and new lines were opened towards America and the Far East.

After the Second World War the company introduced new ships including the cargo passenger liners Jadotville (1956) and Baudouinville (1957). However in 1961 it sold both these liners to P&O who renamed them Chitral and Cathay and placed them in service in the Far East.

In 1960 the company Armement Deppe was acquired, and between 1975 and 1982 gradually also the tramp ship company Bocimar. In July 1991 the Société Générale de Belgique, until then the main shareholder of the CMB, sold its shares to the holding Almabo and his shipping society Exmar, led by Marc Saverys.

See also

• SS Burgondier

Source

• G. Devos, G. Elewaut, CMB 100. Een Eeuw Compagnie Maritime Belge, Tielt, Lannoo, 1995
• Ships of the CMB
• Compagnie Maritime Belge (Postcards)