The history of

Wilh. Wilhelmsen
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 01. Prologue
02. Shipbroker and shipowner
03. From sail to steam
04. Freight contracts and liner trades
05. “For Speed & Service”
06. World War II and the post war years
07. Flexibility and joint operations
08. WW and the offshore industry
09. Rough weather and restructuring
10. Shipping services – Barber and Barwil
11. The leading Ro-Ro and Car Carrier
12. Epilogue

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 Prologue
Through fourteen decades, Wilh. Wilhelmsen
– recognised world-wide by its initials WW –
has influenced and reflected Norwegian
shipping and seafaring in all its aspects –
local, national and global.

The white houseflag with a blue “W”, two pale blue

rings on a black funnel and the “T” nomenclature are
recognised features in any port. A long history has
given WW its own traditions and corporate culture.
While engaged in most shipping activities under sail,
steam and motor, tramp and tanker trade, oil drilling
and tender services, WW has first and foremost been
associated with global liner services. Today, WW,
together with the Swedish Wallenius Lines, is the
world’s largest combined operator of Ro-Ro and car
carriers with scheduled services around the world.
WW’s global agency network and ship management
services are also among the world’s foremost.

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 Shipbroker
and shipowner
Morten Wilhelm Wilhelmsen (22) from Tønsberg
established the firm in 1861. Mathilde, acquired
in 1865, was the first in what became
Tønsberg’s largest fleet of sailing ships.

Wilhelmsen started as a shipbroker, but in 1865 he

became 2/7 owner and manager for Mathilde, a 337-ton
barque, built in 1840 and mainly employed in the lumber
trade to England and France. From a relatively small
beginning, with three people ashore and ten on board,
Wilh. Wilhelmsen’s firm expanded rapidly. Brokering was
still essential, but ship owning was obviously the firm’s
future core business.
During the next two decades, Wilhelmsen’s fleet increased
with an average of one ship a year, all sailing vessels
and mostly second-hand. In 1886, Wilh. Wilhelmsen was
Tønsberg’s largest shipowner.
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 Kockegaarden, Tønsberg anno 1860

“From a relatively small

beginning, with three
people ashore and ten on
board, Wilh. Wilhelmsen’s
firm expanded rapidly.”

Crew of the fully-rigged ship

Jarlsberg, Cardiff 1896
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 From sail to
The S/S Talabot

steam
While Norwegian shipowners still
put their stakes on sailing ships,
Halfdan Wilhelmsen, eldest son of
the founder, was a pioneer in the
transition from sail to steam.

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 Norway’s position as a major maritime nation had
been based on wind power. Most shipowners
and investors were reluctant to steamships, but
steadily lower profits made it clear that the age of
the windjammer was inevitably reaching its end.
“One person who saw
the writing on the wall
One person who saw the writing on the wall and
and that radical steps
that radical steps must be taken was Morten
must be taken was
Wilhelm Wilhelmsen’s eldest son, Halfdan. He
Morten Wilhelm
joined the firm in 1886 after professional training
Wilhelmsen’s eldest
abroad. At first his arguments for steamships fell
son, Halfdan.”
on deaf ears among conservative Tønsberg ship
owners, including his father, with little or no
confidence in capital-intensive steamers.

Finally in late 1887, Halfdan Wilhelmsen had

raised sufficient capital to acquire the Talabot,
an 1,800-ton freighter. Immediately profitable,
Talabot was so successful that the letter “T” was
to become synonymous with WW nomenclature
ever since. The tide had turned. Some sailing
vessels were still added, but steamships, mostly
newbuildings, would hereafter dominate the
Wilhelmsen fleet.

Halfdan Wilhelmsen
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 Freight Contracts
and Liner Trades
A full partner in the firm from 1890, Halfdan
Wilhelmsen soon proved his exceptional skills
as a shipping man. He laid the basis for WW’s
core business – liner trades.

The S/S Tysla

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 Halfdan Wilhelmsen had a talent for obtaining large Morten Wilhelm Wilhelmsen
freight contracts which employed ships over long passed away in 1910.
periods. Based on trading between fixed ports, such His younger son, Captain
contracts had much in common with regular liner Wilhelm Wilhelmsen, had
services, a typical feature of contemporary steamship joined his father and
operation. Norway’s foreign trade expanded greatly elder brother as a partner
in the first decade of the 20th century, and WW was in 1904, after a professional
active in establishing a network of liner services which career at sea.
linked Norway with all overseas continents, partly
together with other Scandinavian shipping companies.
A corner stone in what became WW’s core business
was the opening of NAAL (The Norwegian Africa and
Australia Line) in 1911.

Halfdan Wilhelmsen’s philosophy of long-term freight

contracts also included oil transportation at an early
stage. The first oil carrier, San Joaquin, was delivered
in 1912. With ten ships in 1918, WW was the country’s
largest tanker owner, controlling more than 90 % of the
entire Norwegian fleet.

Captain Wilhelm Wilhelmsen

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 “For Speed and
Service”
With no less than 37 new-built motor ships
delivered between 1921 and 1931, WW
established a truly global liner network.
Between the wars, WW’s liner network was further
expanded, into international cross-trade, based on a
large fleet of new-built motor ships. The company’s
slogan “For Speed & Service” became a world-wide
household term.
Australian wool was an important commodity on the
European market, and speedy transportation was
a great advantage in the prestigious wool trade. To
maintain a competitive edge in the “wool race”,
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Wilhelmsen introduced a new series of fast cargo lin-
ers from 1930 onwards, with service speeds increased
from 11 to 16 knots. In 1935, Taronga secured a lasting
record of 30 days from Sydney to Dunkirk.
The growing volume in trade between the US and Far
East across the Pacific created the basis for a coopera-
tion between WW and the American Barber Steamship
Lines. Five 10,000 - 12,000 dwt. cargo liners, all with
names beginning with Tai, entered this service in 1929.
In 1917 Wilh. Wilhelmsen’s head office was moved to
Oslo, although the ships were still registered in Tøns-
berg. After Halfdan Wilhelmsen´s death in 1923 after a
brief illness, his son-in-law Niels Werring joined the firm
as partner in 1930, followed by Tom Wilhelmsen, Cap-
tain Wilhelmsen’s son in 1938. As senior partner in the
firm Captain Wilhelmsen vigorously pursued a strategy
of bringing WW in the forefront among the world’s liner
operators, at the expense of tramp and tanker trades.
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 The M/V Taronga

“Wilhelmsen intro-
duced a new series of
fast cargo liners from
1930 onwards, with
service speeds
increased from 11 to
16 knots.”

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 Loading of cotton to one of Wilhelmsen´s liners Men hauling cargo

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 World War II and the
post-war years
52 seamen and nearly half of the WW fleet,
were lost during World War II. A vigorous
rebuilding program was set in motion immedi-
ately after the war.

Of Wilhelmsen’s 54 ships, 10 were seized by the Germans

in 1940, while the remaining 44 served the Allied cause
under the management of Nortraship. Fast and versatile,
cargo liners were suitable for many purposes, including
troop transport. One ship, Torrens, made history for herself
in this capacity. Chartered out by Nortraship to the US Army
as a trooper, Torrens made 20 round trips, carrying 63,000
American soldiers, war material and troop equipment to
various theatres of war. Despite some narrow escapes,
she sailed luckily throughout the war, earning herself the
sobriquet “The Ship of Good Cheers” – a compliment to
her Norwegian captain and crew.

Plaque commemorating the seamen who perished during World War II

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 To rebuild the fleet after the war was a formidable task – in 1946 Niels Werring, a strong tanker advocate,
no less than 18 ships had been ordered. While liner services now harvested the fruits of persistence.
still had top priority, a shift in strategy was implemented in 1948 Since then, WW has in long periods
with the contract of the first oil tanker in nearly three decades. held a major position in bulk, ore and oil
Tartar, delivered in 1951, heralded a fleet of steadily bigger transportation, without losing its
tankers which by 1969 stood at 19 vessels. “The Ship of dominance in liner trade.
Good Cheers”

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 Flexibility
and joint
operations
When WW celebrated its
centenary in 1961,
a transformation began from
break-bulk to Ro-Ro and
container transportation in
liner trade.

The M/V Barber Tampa

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 During the 1960s and 1970s, WW’s liner strategy Tom Wilhelmsen and Niels Werring

shifted from individual operation to joint ventures

and pools, together with Scandinavian and other
liner operators, marketed as Scanservice, Scan-
Dutch, ScanAustral, ScanCarriers, Barber Blue Sea
etc. A motivating factor behind such mergers was
the need for new and larger ships, specially
constructed to meet new concepts in transportation.
Inter-modal solutions based on container and Ro-
Ro-ships replaced traditional port-to-port services.

Taimyr, WW’s last purpose-built cargoliner, was

delivered in 1969. Three years later, the 30-knot
Toyama joined the ScanDutch pool’s Far East
service. It was, however, the company’s only pure
container ship. WW’s deliberate future liner strategy
was based on a flexible system with large Ro-Ro
vessels equipped with angled stern ramps, enabling
them to load and discharge in almost any port.

Tom Wilhelmsen, senior partner in the 1960s and

1970s, took a keen personal interest in the
company’s activities, not least in technical matters.
The company’s last cargo liner, Taimyr, was
also the world’s first ship with a computer
surveillance system.

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 “WW’s deliberate
future liner strategy
was based on a
flexible system with
large Ro-Ro vessels
equipped with angled
stern ramps, enabling
them to load and
discharge in almost
any port.”

The M/V Tricolor

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 WW and the
offshore industry
When oil was discovered in the North
Sea around 1970, WW entered upon a
period of great activity in the offshore
sector, including tender services as well
as drilling operation.

Drilling rig Treasure Scout receiving

supplies fraom a WW support vessel

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 Tender Trout, delivered to a newly-established subsidiary
Wilhelmsen Offshore Services (WOS), heralded a fleet of no
less than thirty support vessels, all with the prefix Tender, for
the oil industry between 1972 and 1986, making WOS among
the world’s leading offshore support operators. The offshore
commitment was carried even further in 1975, when Treasure
Hunter, WW’s first oil drilling rig, was delivered, followed by
Treasure Seeker and Treasure Finder in the next two years.

After a difficult start, the drilling rigs were secured on profit-

able long-term contracts with the oil companies, paving the
way for the ordering, chartering and acquisition of still larger
and more advanced rigs, culminating with Polar Pioneer
from 1985 – one of the world’s most advanced rig for drilling
in inhospitable waters. Financially important for WW in the
early 1980s, the offshore activities were gradually phased out
towards the end of the decade.

The Tender Captain at work.

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 Rough weather
“Storm warning for Wilhelmsen”
- press cut from 1986

and restructuring
WW did not escape the effects of the ship-
ping crisis in the 1970s and 1980s. With falling
oil prices in 1986, the offshore sector changed
from a lifebuoy to a millstone. Thanks to radical
steps the company was saved from ruin.

Although less affected than other shipping sectors, liner

services were also hit by the market slump in world ship-
ping after 1974. The Iran-Iraq war in 1979 had a particularly
bad effect on WW’s Ro-Ro services in the Middle East.
The offshore sector eased the situation until this market
collapsed as well in 1986. WW faced a critical situation.
Rather than celebrate its 125-year anniversary, WW
entered upon a radical rescue programme in the summer
of 1986: a 30-month moratorium on debts, sales of assets, “The offshore sector eased
and a restructuring of the entire company organisation, the situation until this market
including staff reductions on board and ashore. collapsed as well in 1986.”

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 After three traumatic years, the clouds began to
lift with new optimism, new activities and new
energy. Then, on 8 September 1989, disaster
struck. 50 colleagues lost their lives in a terrible air
crash near Denmark, en route to Hamburg for a
naming ceremony – an everlasting tragedy in the
WW history.

After Tom Wilhelmsen’s and Niels Werring’s

deaths in 1987 and 1990, their sons Wilhelm
Wilhelmsen and Niels Werring jr. represented the
family interests.

“Wilhelmsen lost 50” - press cut from 1989

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 Shipping services -
Barber
and Barwil
The international shipping crisis from
the mid-1970s called for cost reductions
through re-flagging of ships and
recruitment of seamen from countries with
lower wage levels. Wilhelmsen Maritime
Services is a world leader in ship manage-
ment and agency services.

Officers on the bridge of M/V Taronga

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 Barber Ship Management, established in 1975, gradually
extended its activities to include a large fleet for several
owners under many flags, manned by Indian officers and Fili-
pino sailors. At the end of 2004, Barber had bases in Kuala
Lumpur, Dubai, Mumbai, Oslo and New Orleans, operating
more than 250 ships with a shipboard personnel of around
6,500. Maritime know-how is a keyword in WW´s strategy.
The same applies to the truly global network of more than
270 offices in approx. 70 different countries.

What once began as an agency network to assist WW’s

liner services has grown into one of the world’s largest ship
agency companies, characterised by steady growth in num-
ber of offices as well as services offered to owners, charter-
ers etc. In 2005, Barber International and Barwil merged into
Wilhelmsen Maritime Services.

Barwil agent with Operations Manager in

Wallenius Wilhelmsen, Zeebrügge.

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 The leading Ro-Ro
- and car carrier
Since 1970s, the Ro-Ro concept has gradually be-
come the predominant factor in WW’s liner opera-
tions, having developed into today’s 5th generation
Ro-Ro ships, operated by Wallenius Wilhelmsen Lines.
Introduced in 1972 with Tricolor and her sisters in ScanAustral, a
pool composed of WW and two other Scandinavian operators,
the use of large Ro-Ro ships equipped with an angled stern ramp
represented a new concept in liner operation between Europe and
Australia. Focusing on cargoes on wheels and other freight units
less suited for containers, the Ro-Ro concept was extended to
car transportation through Norwegian Specialised Auto Carriers
(NOSAC), a joint operation with the Norwegian America Line (NAL)
which WW acquired outright in 1995.
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Already in the top league through NOSAC, WW extended
the successful Ro-Ro/car transportation strategy still further
in 1999, when Wilhelmsen Lines and Wallenius Lines (OW)
established a joint operating company, Wallenius Wilhelm-
sen Lines, with a total fleet of 60 ships serving a global liner
network. In 2002 WW and OW acquired an 80 % ownership
in the Korean Hyundai’s car transport division. Renamed EU-
KOR Car Carriers, this company operates approx. 85 ships.
In addition, American Roll-On Roll-Off Carriers (jointly owned
by OW and WW) operates a number of vessels. Control-
ling a fleet of more than 150 ships and with a steadily grow-
ing logistics, WW and its Swedish partner is a world leader
in Ro-Ro cargo transportation. An extensive newbuilding
programme is underway securing the companies’ need for
future tonnage capacity.
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 “Already in the top league
through NOSAC, WW extended
the successful Ro-Ro/car
transportation strategy still
further in 1999”

The M/V Trinidad in Sydney.

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 Epilogue
The distance from a modest Tønsberg shipbroker in
1861 to Wilh. Wilhelmsen’s pre-eminent position in
today’s shipping world is truly breathtaking.

Resting on laurels is definitely no guarantee for new achieve-

ments. Visions, strategies and future aims must be hammered
out and constantly adjusted. But values created and lessons
learned from history’s wake with success and setbacks are also
essential when plotting WW’s course into the future.

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 Our Vision
The WW Group will be a leading, global
provider of maritime services.

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 For more information: Contact WW Corporate Communications,
ww-group@ww-group.com

Niels Werring jr. Wilhelm Wilhelmsen

Chair 1985 - 1992 Chair 1992 - 2000
and 2003 -
President & GCEO
2000 - 2003

Leif T. Løddestøl Ingar Skaug

President & GCEO 1973 - 1980 President & GCEO 2003 -
and 1988 - 2000
The head office at Lysaker, Oslo.
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