Stoomvaart Maatschappij Zeeland (known as SMZ or in English as Zeeland Steamship Company ) was a Dutch ferry operator that ran services from the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

between 1875 and 1989.Haws (1993), p.197

History

The Stoomvaart Maatschappij Zeeland was founded in June 1875 and opened a service from

Vlissingen Vlissingen (; zea, label= Zeelandic, Vlissienge), historically known in English as Flushing, is a municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the former island of Walcheren. With its strategic location between the Scheldt river ...

to Sheerness in Kent on July 26 of that year. However, poor support led to the service being suspended for the following winter and re-opened on May 15, 1876 to nearby

Queenborough Queenborough is a town on the Isle of Sheppey in the Swale borough of Kent in South East England. Queenborough is south of Sheerness. It grew as a port near the Thames Estuary at the westward entrance to the Swale where it joins the R ...

. The service was temporarily transferred to Dover in 1882 following a fire at the

pier. At the request of the Dutch postal authorities the service was doubled in 1887 but the service suffered further disruption in 1897 due to flooding of the railway to

and another fire at the pier in 1900. During this period, competition from the Great Eastern Railway's services to Harwich had grown and forced the company to invest in 3 new vessels from

Fairfields Fairfields is a district and civil parish that covers a large new development area on the western flank of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. As the first tier of Local Government, the parish council is responsible for the people who l ...

of Govan. In 1911 further new tonnage was introduced and they were placed on a service to Folkestone leaving older paddle steamers to service

, but as they were retired the operation to that port was ended. At the outbreak of war in 1914 the service was switched to

Tilbury Tilbury is a port town in the borough of Thurrock, Essex, England. The present town was established as separate settlement in the late 19th century, on land that was mainly part of Chadwell St Mary. It contains a 16th century fort and an ancie ...

, and following the war in January 1919 a daylight service was introduced to Gravesend. In 1927 an agreement was reached with the London and North Eastern Railway to switch the service to Harwich, and that agreement was further enhanced in 1946 after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

when services were moved to the

Hook of Holland Hook of Holland ( nl, Hoek van Holland, ) is a town in the southwestern corner of Holland, hence the name; ''hoek'' means "corner" and was the word in use before the word ''kaap'' – "cape", from Portuguese ''cabo'' – became Dutch. The English t ...

, the company's facilities at

Flushing Flushing may refer to: Places * Flushing, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom * Flushing, Queens, New York City ** Flushing Bay, a bay off the north shore of Queens ** Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), a community in Queens ** Flushin ...

having been destroyed during the hostilities. A secondary service from Vlissingen to Folkestone was introduced in 1949 but lasted only three seasons. In the meantime, British Railways had taken over from the

LNER LNER may refer to: * London and North Eastern Railway, a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1923 until 1947 * London North Eastern Railway, a train operating company in the United Kingdom since 2018 * Liquid neutral earthing resistor, a typ ...

at Harwich in 1948 and the service evolved to a full co-operation, the two companies providing the night .R.and day eelandservices respectively employing four ships plus two relief vessels. In 1968 with the introduction of car ferries, the SMZ and

Sealink Sealink was a ferry company based in the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1984, operating services to France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Isle of Man, Channel Islands, Isle of Wight and Ireland. Ports served by the company included: Dover, Folkesto ...

services were fully

amalgamated Amalgamation is the process of combining or uniting multiple entities into one form. Amalgamation, amalgam, and other derivatives may refer to: Mathematics and science * Amalgam (chemistry), the combination of mercury with another metal **Pan am ...

. In 1989

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

ferry operator Stena Line acquired SMZ. The following year Stena Line also acquired SMZ's UK partner

. The Harwich operations of

were transferred to Stena Line BV.

Fleet

Passenger ships

* PS ''Stad Middleburg'' (built 1865) - renamed ''Aurora'' in 1881 - Sold 1888. * PS ''Stad Vlissingen'' (built 1865) - Lost 1879. * PS ''Stad Breda'' (built 1863) - Broken up 1888. * PS ''Prinses Elisabeth'' (built 1877) - Sold 1898 to Swedish interests. * PS ''Prinses Marie'' (built 1877) - Sold 1898 to German interests. * PS ''Prins Hendrik'' (built 1880) - Sold in 1902 to German interests for breaking up. * PS ''Willem Prins Van Orange'' (built 1883) - Broken up 1909. * PS ''Duitschland'' (built 1886) - renamed ''Zeeland'' in 1914 - Broken up 1922. * PS ''Engeland'' (built 1887) - Broken up 1910. * PS ''Nederland'' (built 1887) - Broken up 1910. * PS ''Koningin Wilhelmina'' (built 1895) - Lost in 1916 after hitting a mine. * PS ''Konigin Regentes'' (built 1895) - Torpedoed and lost in 1918. * PS ''Prins Hendrick'' (built 1895) - Broken up in 1922. * MS ''Prinses Juliana'' (built 1909) - Hit a mine and subsequently broke up in 1916. * MS ''Oranje Nassau'' (built 1909) - Broken up 1952. * MS ''Mecklenburg '' (built 1909) - Sank 1916 after hitting a mine. * MS ''Prinses Juliana'' (built 1919) - Broke up on beach following bombing 1940. * MS ''Mecklenburg'' (built 1922) - Broken up 1960. * MS ''Prinses Beatrix'' (built 1939) - Broken up 1968. * MS ''Koningin Emma'' (built 1939) - Broken up 1968. * MS ''Koningin Wilhelmina'' (built 1960) - sold to Ventouris Ferries in 1978 for further service in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

Car ferries

* MS ''Koningin Juliana'' (built 1968) - sold to Moby Lines in 1985. * MS ''Zeeland'' (built 1972) - Chartered 1984 - 1986 from

Larvik Line Larvik () is a town and municipality in Vestfold in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Larvik. The municipality of Larvik has about 46,364 inhabitants. The municipality has a 110 ...

where named ''Peter Wessel''. * MS ''Prinses Beatrix'' (built 1978) - sold to

Brittany Ferries Brittany Ferries is the trading name of the French shipping company, BAI Bretagne Angleterre Irlande S.A. founded in 1973 by Alexis Gourvennec, that operates a fleet of ferries and cruiseferries between France and the United Kingdom, Ireland, a ...

in 1985. * MS ''Koningin Beatrix'' (built 1986) - sold to Stena Line BV in 1988.

Cargo ships

* ''Domburgh'' (built 1949) - lengthened 1962 and re-built as 77 twenty-foot equivalent unit container vessel - chartered by SMZ from W.H.Muller and Co (Batavier) N.V. in 1968 for joint container service Harwich-

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

. Charter ended in 1972.Haws (1993), p.207

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * {{Authority control Ferry companies of the Netherlands History of Rotterdam Companies based in Rotterdam Defunct shipping companies of the Netherlands