Safmarine

The company was founded in June 1946 by South African industrialists and American ship owners with three American wartime Victory ships. In 1950 it came under American control but in 1959, the Industrial Development Corporation helped finance its repurchase and returned it to South African control. It would sell its holding 1984.

Safmarine became widely known as a north–south trade and African specialist, represented in more than 130 countries throughout the world, and employing more than 1200 seafarers. Safmarine's container line was headquartered and registered in Antwerp, Belgium, from 1996, when it completed its acquisition of the Belgian container line CMBT, which in turn had been an outgrowth of Compagnie Maritime Belge.

In 1999, Safmarine was acquired by the Danish shipping company A.P. Moller-Maersk Group, where Maersk Line chose to retain the Safmarine brand rather than integrating it wholly into Maersk Sealand. In 2002, Safmarine acquired Torm Lines. On October 3, 2011, it was decided that Safmarine would integrate its internal support and management functions into those of its sister company Maersk Line. In 2020 Safmarine was fully subsumed into Maersk Line.

Safmarine operated a passenger liner service between the United Kingdom and South Africa between 1965 and 1977 and again between 1984 and 1985.

1965 to 1977

Safmarine passenger operations had begun in 1965, when two Union-Castle Line ships used on the Southampton–Durban service, RMS Transvaal Castle and Pretoria Castle, were transferred to Safmarine to satisfy demands from the South African government. The ships were renamed S. A. Vaal and S. A. Oranje respectively, re-painted in Safmarine colours but continued on the same service as before. In 1969, both vessels were transferred from British to South African registry. During the 1970s the South African liner trade started to decline, mainly due to competition from the jet airplane and the rising success of the revolutionary new container ships, in carrying cargoes more efficiently and more economically than conventional, older vessels. Thus, in 1975 the S. A. Oranje and her Union-Castle sister RMS Edinburgh Castle were withdrawn and sold for scrapping. RMS Pendennis Castle was also withdrawn in June 1976, leaving S. A. Vaal to remain with Union-Castle's RMS Windsor Castle, and the two smaller cargo/passenger mailships RMMV Good Hope Castle and RMMV Southampton Castle. In October 1977, both companies withdrew their passenger services and S. A. Vaal was sold to Carnival Cruise Lines, becoming their SS Festivale.

1984 to 1986

In 1984, Safmarine purchased the cruise ship MS Astor from the West German Hadag Cruise Lines. Following refit she was used to revive the Southampton–Cape Town service, also making cruises out of South Africa and the United Kingdom between liner voyages. However, in service the Astor was found not to have enough speed to maintain the liner schedule and Safmarine ordered a replacement ship based on the same design from Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft in Kiel, also to be named MS Astor. In preparation for the delivery of the new ship, the first Astor was sold to the East German Deutsche Seerederei via a West German intermediary, becoming MS Arkona. Ultimately the second Astor never entered service for Safmarine, as the company abandoned the liner service in 1986. The second Astor, still under construction at the time, was sold to Marlan Corporation in January 1986.