Royal De Vries

The first De Vries shipyard was started in Aalsmeer in The Netherlands by Chris de Vries. His sons Henk and Joh started a yacht-building shipyard nearby in 1923, and these two were among the original founders of Feadship in 1949. The history of Feadship is detailed in the referenced article. In 2006, at the 100th anniversary of the yard, De Vries received the "Royal" designation and now calls itself Koinklijke De Vries Scheepsbouw. The company is owned by five family shareholders and operates two shipyards, one steel yard, one aluminum/manufacturing company and two engineering firms. In 2008, the group employs some 700 people.