IHC Merwede and Dutch shipbuilding: a shared history

IHC Merwede was in at the birth of modern dredging. Let's go back to the mid-sixteenth century. At that time, large parts of the Netherlands were submerged, with large mud flats as a result. The Dutch had resigned themselves to their destiny for a long time, but things were beginning to change. The first steps were taken to control the water as plentiful manpower came in from the flooded areas. These men knew how to deal with water and mud, and they had practical experience with water currents. They created the Dutch polders, and laid the foundations for dredging as we know it today.

At the end of the nineteenth century, industrialisation gave dredging and shipbuilding a new impulse. The first steam bucket dredgers and hopper dredgers came onto the scene.

The development of the New Waterway (1872) and the Barrier Dam (1927-1932) are prime examples of the inventiveness and experience of mechanical and hydraulic engineers. These two enormous projects propelled the Netherlands into the international top flight as an expert in shipbuilding and dredging.

A rich history

During the Second World War, a number of yards decided to join forces. They included Werf Gusto in Schiedam, Verschure in Amsterdam, Werf Conrad in Haarlem, L. Smit & Zn. in Kinderdijk, J. & K. Smit in Kinderdijk and De Klop in Sliedrecht. The combined yards focused primarily on the joint sales of dredging equipment. All the companies involved retained their independence.

The partnership between the yards was so successful that it resulted, in 1965, in the founding of the Industriële Handels Combinatie Holland NV. A share flotation followed. Kinderdijk became the home base for IHC Holland, providing jobs at the time for about 6,500 people.

When the worldwide recession hit the shipbuilding industry in the 1970s, all the Dutch shipyards had to weather stormy times. IHC Holland was broken up. The offshore activities moved abroad under the name IHC Caland while shipbuilding stayed in the Netherlands under the IHC Holland flag.

Later, in 1987, IHC Caland regained ownership of IHC Holland and it acquired De Merwede in 1993. De Merwede had been founded in 1902 when Christiaan van Vliet, who had already managed two shipyards, got together with his neighbour Paulus Langeveld to establish ‘Langeveld & Van Vliet - scheepswerf De Merwede’. De Merwede has now become a major shipyard, with the most varied ships coming off the slipway. In 1996, IHC Caland also bought the Van der Giessen-de Noord yard, which was later shut down, but then recommissioned in 2006.

The technology innovator

In 2005, IHC Holland and De Merwede started out on their own and IHC Holland Merwede BV became a reality. IHC Holland Merwede did well as an independent company. Finally, the new organisation adopted the name IHC Merwede. We now have an organisation that, over the course of its history, has become a leading international market player with branches throughout the world. Technological innovation is, and will remain, the company's underlying strength: IHC Merwede, the technology innovator.