- Safmarine
Safmarine ("Safmarine Container Lines N.V.") is an international
shipping business offering container and break-bulk shipping services worldwide.Formed in
1946 bySouth African industrialists and American ship owners, Safmarine is now widely known as a north/south trade andAfrica n specialist. The line is represented in more than 130 countries throughout the world, with more than 1200 dedicated Safmariners providing personalised shipping solutions. Safmarine has been headquartered and registered inAntwerp ,Belgium , since 1996, when it completed its acquisition ofBelgian Line (CMBT). In 1999, Safmarine was bought by the Danish companyA.P. Moller-Maersk Group , and Maersk chose to retain the Safmarine brand rather than integrating it wholly into Maersk Sealand. In 2002, Safmarine acquiredTorm Lines .Safmarine's pre-buyout containers had the SAMU prefix, and since Maersk bought them new containers have appeared with the parent company marking, MSKU. Maersk kept the original Safmarine graphics but integrated them into a redesigned container. The old dry van pre-Maersk containers were blue with the Safmarine flag on each side and Safmarine in cursive writing on the back door. The older refrigerated containers had the cursive Safmarine writing on the sides. The newer dry van and reefer containers with the Maersk influence are darker blue (the reefers are white of course) with gigantic Safmarine cursive on the side as well as the flag. Where the 7 point star appears on each door on a Maersk container, the Safmarine flag appears for their containers. The Maersk container redesign for Safmarine makes their containers much more easily identifiable and, to many, more visually appealing. Before the "flag logo" pre-buyout containers, Safmarine did have 2 different container appearances that simply said "Safmarine" in different non-cursive fonts but did not feature the flag on the sides.
External links
* [http://mysaf.safmarine.com/safsitev5/SafSiteControl?ssaction=com.saf.homeportal.action.StartAction Safmarine]
* [http://www.maersk.com/ A.P. Moller-Maersk Group]
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