History

From Agency to Ship Manager

Andre Leysen during Maiden trip of M/V ER Antverpia

Under the leadership of Andre Leysen, who became chairman after Herwig Ahlers' death in 1963, the company moved towards other shipping activities.

He took the initiative to become a shipowner, ordering two ice-class ships for the liner service to Finland. The company also entered the liner trade to Latvia (then part of Soviet Union), and Sweden. Ship management activities were developed based on the fleet of reeferships and bulk carriers ordered by foreign shipping companies on Belgian yards.

In the sixties Ahlers entered into related activities such as towage (Scheldt Towage Comany-SSB) and inland navigation, storage and distribution (Rhenus Antverpia).

A major actor in Belgian Shipping

1970 marked the entry of Stinnes AG (Germany) as majority shareholder and the move to the actual offices in the Port of Antwerp.

Ahlers entered together with CMB and French shipping companies as partners in the Far Eastern trade, and acquired minority participations in various ships.

Ahlers became shareholder in the insurance broker Van den Bosch (later renamed Assupar), Sea Ro Terminal in Zeebruges, but sold its participation in Rhenus Antverpia to Stinnes.

In 1975 it became shareholder in the tramping company Bocimar, in 1980 in the stevedoring company Gylsen, whilst CMB became a minory shareholder in Ahlers' ship management activities. Through absorption of Bocimar and Gylsen by CMB, Ahlers became a direct shareholder of CMB and participated in later capital increases.