Travel Poster Compagnie Maritime Belge Congolaise Route Map Shipping

Original vintage travel advertising poster for the Belgian Maritime Company (Compagnie Maritime Belge) and the Congolese Maritime Company (Compagnie Maritime Congolaise) featuring a world map showing the ship lines operated by the two companies between Europe and the rest of the world, including New York, South America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. CMB was founded in 1895 under the name Compagnie Belge Maritime du Congo (CBMC). At the request of Leopold II of Belgium and with support from British investors, a maritime connection was opened with Congo Free State. On 6 February 1895 the CMB ship Léopoldville was the first to leave port of Antwerp for Congo Free State. For sixty years the Congo boats (Kongoboten) were a constant presence in the port of Antwerp. In 1930 CBMC acquired Lloyd Royal Belge [de], another Belgian shipowner. The name of the new company became CMB, and new lines were opened towards America and the Far East. After the Second World War, the company introduced new ships including the cargo passenger liners Jadotville (1956) and Baudouinville (1957). However in 1961 it sold both these liners to P&O who renamed them Chitral and Cathay and placed them in service in the Far East. In 1960 the company Armement Deppe was acquired, and between 1975 and 1982 gradually also the tramp ship company Bocimar. The company entered the dry bulk trade in 1962 and continues to be a major dry bulk operator under its Bocimar banner. In 1975, the CMB group took a minority share in the dry bulk tramping company, Bocimar, which was increased to a majority share in 1982. In 1988, CMB bought Hessenatie, a large general cargo and container handling company in Antwerp. In July 1991 the Société Générale de Belgique, until then the main shareholder of the CMB, sold its shares to the holding Almabo and his shipping society Exmar, led by Marc Saverys. In 1995, half of CMB Transport was sold to Safmarine, a South African shipping company. In 1999, with the sale of the African network of AMI, CMB group's participation in the liner sector ceased and they focussed on the bulk carrier sector. In the same year, CMB gained full control of Euronav, an operator of crude oil tankers. On June 28, 2019, Ocean Yield ASA announced the acquisition of newcastlemax dry bulk vessel from CMB for 40 million (USD) net of a seller's credit, with 15-year bareboat charter to CMB.Year of printing: 1953, country of printing: Belgium, designer: Unknown, dimensions (cm): 34x40. Fair condition, folded as issued, staining, minor tears and creases in margins