History of shipping between Holland and the Channel Islands.

  
 
We have tried to dig little into this and although we know it goes back much further, we have quite a clear picture of the situation as of 1952.
In those days Wm H Muller & Co were offering a monthly service between Rotterdam, La Palize, Bordeaux and back to Rotterdam. This service offered a fortnightly call at Guernsey and Jersey. The service was offered by a ship called Walenburgh with a capacity of 45,000 cbft (1,274 cbm). The ship was later replaced by two new ships, Walenburgh (the name was used again) and Aardenburgh. Both these ships were 104,000 cbft in which way the capacity was doubled. Later on these ships were used for other services of Muller and the Channel Islands were served by the Zeeburgh of 75,000 cbft. During Muller's days it always remained a fortnightly service. In 1970 the Koninklijke Nederlandsche Stoomboot Maatschappij NV of Amsterdam, K.N.S.M., bought Wm H Muller & Co and in this way became active on the Channel Islands. The major products they were carrying were beer and flower bulbs, as well as all sorts of other products for the horticultural business and fresh produce such as apples, pears and salad. Allied Coasters of Guernsey became active in this trade to Holland in 1977 and a contract was signed between KNSM and Allied Coasters in July 1980. In 1981 KNSM was taken over by Nedlloyd and the service was continued till 1994 after which Allied coasters continued.

Due to time restraints, we have not been able to find a lot of information for the period before 1952 and we challenge our customers who know more about this to write, fax or e-mail us.
For a good story we will send you one of the famous Dutch Edam cheeses. Of course photographs of the old days of shipping are very much appreciated also.