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History of the company/bank and archive description for Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB) N.V.
History of the
company/bank:		 The history of CMB dates back to 1895, when 2 ship owning companies according to Belgian law were founded in Belgium, viz. Compagnie Belge Maritime du Congo with English interests, and Société Maritime du Congo with German interests. The aim of both companies was to establish a regular shipping service to Congo. In 1901 SMC ceased its activities and CBMC continued the line Antwerp-Matadi on its own.
In 1911 Belgian interests took control of the company. Its activities, however, remained limited to sailings to Congo and East-Africa. Until the First World War, CBMC offered a 3-weekly service with liner vessels, taking passengers as well as freight. These liners, having all names ending on "ville", and commonly called "Congo boats" in Antwerp, were well reputed in the entire country. As from 1920 CBMC also operated pure freighters.
In 1930 CBMC merged with the Belgian ship owning company Lloyd Royal Belge and the name of the company was changed to Compagnie Maritime Belge (Lloyd Royal). The new company owned 38 vessels and had become the biggest ship owning company in Belgium. CMB now sailed also to North- and South-America and even to the Far East.
During the Second World War, CMB lost 294 seamen and 23 vessels because of war circumstances. After the war, the fleet was considerably renewed and a.o. 21 new freighters were built, not only for service on the Congo line but also for a lot of other destinations.
CMB was not only diversifying geographically, but was also engaging itself in other maritime activities and became a maritime group. In 1947 the company got a port concession at the Leopolddok in Antwerp and constructed its own Maritime Station, a few years later leaving the traditional well-known quays on the river Scheldt near the Steen.
The independence of the Congo in 1960 and the takeover of the shipping company Armement Deppe in the same year resulted in a change of policy. CMB, so far only involved in liner services, decided to look for new core activities. In 1963, the company ordered its first ore carrier and entered bulk shipping.
At the end of the sixties, the shipping world was shaken by the introduction of the container, and this evolution resulted again in substantial changes of CMB´s activities. The switch to container trade meant large investments for shipping companies and this lead to growing co-operation between companies. Obviously CMB had to follow this trend and became involved in a lot of common services to various continents as from the early seventies. In 1972 the last liner vessel left the fleet.

In 1975, as part of a growing need for diversification, CMB bought 40% in the tramping company BOCIMAR, operating bulk carriers. In 1982 BOCIMAR became a full CMB company.
In 1988 the liner services of CMB were put in a separate division called CMB TRANSPORT.
CMB at that time also became a very important player in port handling in Antwerp, especially through the acquisition of HESSENATIE, followed by the acquisition of Stevedoring GYLSEN and STOCATRA.

In June 1991 Generale Maatschappij, the major shareholder in CMB, sold its controlling participation in CMB to the holding company ALMABO. This again resulted in important changes in company policy. In 1991 CMB sold half of its liner division CMB TRANSPORT to the South-African group Safmarine, and the shareholding of Safmarine in CMB TRANSPORT became even larger in the years to come. CMB TRANSPORT was renamed SCL and finally was sold completely in 1998. In 1999 CMB puts an end to all its liner activities.
Meanwhile, the gas operator EXMAR, belonging to ALMABO, was integrated in the CMB group. Through its new division EURONAV, CMB started operating oil carriers.

In 1998 the group had a turnover of 1,247 million EUR. On December 31st 1998 the CMB group employed 5,850 people (2,052 dockers and 1,295 seamen).
Archive description The historical archives of CMB occupy several rooms in one of the company´s office buildings. A professional inventory has been edited in 1993, in preparation of the company´s 100th anniversary in 1995.
This inventory, about 300 pages in scope, has been put on a computer database and is regularly updated. It is impossible to give exact information about the scope - in metres - of the available records.

The collection covers the history of CMB (originally CBMC = Compagnie Belge Maritime Congolaise) from the beginning, but except for the official documents relating to the assembly of shareholders, we hold few documents prior to ± 1920.

The archives are divided into the following parts and sections:

part 1 : the company itself

  • section A : texts and documents on the history of the company
  • section B : statutes, general assemblies, meetings of the board of directors and of the management
  • section C : archives of presidents, general managers, members of the board
  • section D : archives of managers and key people
  • section E : archives of different divisions and services within the company, including the archives of
    - the group secretarial services (these include: documents on the mangement of the company, the industrial and commercial activities, the operation of the vessels, the port infrastructure, the company personnel, the financial mangement of the company, the bookkeeping department, the relations of the company with other maritime associations, the company public relations, the logistical services and housing of the company)
    - the secretarial services in London during the war
    - the personnel department
    - the movements of vessels and passengers
    - the relations of the company with various national and international maritime associations
    - the shipping lines and conferences in which the company participated
    - financial data on the group and the companies belonging to the group (balance sheets, evolution of the capital, etc.)
part 2 : archives of affiliated companies or companies linked to the group
  • Armement Deppe, Agence Maritime Walford, Stevedorying Cy Gylsen, Lloyd Royal Belge, AMI, Agence Commerciale Belge de l´Est Africain, Cie Africaine de Navigation, Cie Soutière, Belgo-British Stevedoring, SGS, EASA, UFIMAR, Cie Maritime Congolaise, SALF, MANUTRA, NAVIGA, AGB, CAN, Hull Blyth, Transami, Tracto, ICCS, Containeren Koeltechniek, AMI Air Freight, Comargaz, Methania, CIG Alfa, Metropolitan Tours, Belina, Freyloo Transport, AMI Air Consolidator, Walina, DART container line, CSI, Willemsens, ALMABO, HESSENATIE, Arethusa Offshore, EURONAV, Delta Air Transport
(the documents in the CMB archives are not necessarily the complete archives of the above companies)

part 3 : archives of several institutions linked to the group

part 4 : agreements and contracts made by the companies within the group

part 5 : photographic archives of the group including pictures of most of the vessels which have been in the fleet

part 6 : technical archives (drawings of vessels and technical data on vessels)

part 7 : specimens of shares of companies belonging to the group

part 8 : publications made by the group (annual reports, publications, publicity, etc.)

part 9: documentation on the group

part 10 : objects related to the group´s history in liner traffic

part 11 : videos, films, etc.

part 12 : documentation on the art patrimony of the group (paintings, maps, posters, etc.)
Publications The following books have been published on the history of the company:
  • 1948 : book on the occasion of the 50th anniversary
  • 1955 and 1970 : brochures on the 60th and 75th anniversary
  • 1995 : extensive history book on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of CMB, written by 2 historians, 325 pages and a lot of pictures and illustrations, separate Dutch, French and English editions. This book is still available and can be purchased from the company.
    At the same time an exhibition was held at the National Maritime Museum in Antwerp (Het Steen), and a catalogue, in Dutch, French and English was edited. This catalogue is also still available.
Conditions of use The archives are not open to the general public but if specific requests for information reach us by phone, fax or letter, we try to help people as much as possible through providing the information if it can be found, sending photocopies etc.

On some (rare) occasions permission is granted to researchers or students to consult the archives themselves, always in the presence of the CMB person in charge. In any case the archives can only be consulted on Tuesdays or Thursdays because on other days the archives are closed.

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