History

From Friesland (province of the Netherlands), Einte Holwerda settled in Gasselternijveen in 1880. Here he started working for a peat skipper. Gasselternijveen is a small town in the Netherlands in a peat area where the river ‘Oostermoersche vaart’ meanders through. Here peat was transported by ship as early as 1400; the beginning of centuries of maritime activity.

Einte also thought he could earn a good living there and since 1889 has sailed the coastal waters from Gasselternijveen with his own sea tjalk ‘Vier Gebroeders’.

From 1898, Einte Holwerda’s son, Hendrik, has been the skipper on the ‘Vier Gebroeders’. A few years later, Hendrik marries Roelfina Sloots. She was a member of a well-known skipper family from Gasselternijveen.

In 1913 Hendrik has his first ship ‘Roelfina I’ built which is named after his wife.

This two-masted sail logger was built in Stadskanaal just before the First World War and had a loading capacity of 220 tons. With vessel made voyages to amongst others Scotland and Norway.

In 1923 Hendrik buys the ‘Roelfina II’, a sail logger with a load capacity of 200 tons. Now he became a “reder”, because he had interests in the ‘Vier Gebroeders’, the ‘Roelfina I’ and the ‘Roelfina II’.

Little future was seen in sailing and that is why the ‘Roelfina II’ was equipped with a two-cylinder Kromhout engine in 1927.

In 1930 Hendrik retired and was succeeded by his sons Einte and Roelof. Roelof became the owner of the ‘Avanti’ (a former sailing clipper) in 1932. This vessel was sold, after which a new ‘Avanti’ was built by the Bodewes yard in Hoogezand. Meanwhile, Hendrik had the coaster ‘Holland’ built at Sanders in Delfzijl, equipped with a 135 hp Brons. Einte becomes the skipper of the ‘Holland’.

In 1939 Roelof became ill and, with the threat of war, he decided to accept a position ashore at the mutual insurance company ‘Friese Maatschappij’. He settled with his family in Heerenveen. In the meantime, he continued to represent the interests of the family’s vessels.

After the Second World War, there was not much left of the Dutch coastal shipping fleet. Vessels had been requisitioned by the Germans or had been sunk. Still, they didn’t give up. Money was pooled and the ‘Wota’ was purchased. The name ‘Wota’ was chosen because it stands for ‘We Ondernemen Trots Alles’, freely translated as ‘we venture despite everything’.

While the ‘Wota’ was anchored off Denmark, she was struck. The insurance company declared the ship a total loss.

From the insurance benefit of the ‘Wota’, the new ‘Wota’ was built in a yard in Haarlem.

Later on, a new ‘Holland’ was also built.

Roelof and his sons, Hendrik, Piet, and Rudi, managed the vessels of the Holwerda family and of third parties. In addition, they supervised the construction of new vessels and mediated in the purchase and sale of vessel in short sea shipping.

To expand the fleet, the ‘Roelof Holwerda’ was built and later also the ‘Gretina Holwerda’. Both vessels had a capacity of 500 tons.

In addition to new construction, a number of second-hand vessel were also purchased, ranging from 800 to 1400 tons.

The fleet grew steadily.

With 500 tonners, they have already sailed worldwide, from Alaska to Indonesia.

The fleet is further expanded with a number of new built vessels of 1500 and 3000 tons in the Barkmeyer Stroobos yard. The 3000 ton vesssels were equipped with loading gear and had an ‘Ice Class’ notation, a special feature in those days.

In addition, several second-hand vessels were bought and sold of the same size.

The shipping company continues to expand and a number of vessels of 5000 tons are built at the Barkmeyer Stroobos yard.

Due to a bad market and an important charterer who did not fulfill his obligations, vessels had to be sold.

After a difficult period in the middle of 1980, Holwerda Shipmanagement was continued by Hendrik Holwerda’s sons: Rolf, Haico and Peter.

Besides transporting bulk cargo and general cargo, it was decided to widen the services by starting transporting containers.

In the early 1990s, it was decided to purchase the first ship built for container transport.

Container shipping demanded high-quality ships and fits well with Holwerda’s culture. The right market fit was the reason for purchasing several additional container vessels.

At the start of the new decade, Holwerda focuses further on container shipping. In the 2000s, the container feeder vessel ‘Elisabeth’ and ‘Frederika’ are built at the German yard J.J. Sietas.

The consequences of the economic boom and the ensuing crisis also affects Holwerda. Several exciting years follow, but the Holwerda family manages to keep their heads above water and even several second-hand vessels are bought with the help of several loyal investors.

For several years, some of the multipurpose containers vessels are employed to transport project cargo from Northern Europe to the Mediterranean and Black Sea.

Rolf Holwerda’s three sons; Henk, Han and Wessel come to work for the family business. This is the 6th generation of the Holwerda family in shipping.

The consequences of the economic boom and the ensuing crisis also affects Holwerda. Several exciting years follow, but the Holwerda family manages to keep their heads above water and even several second-hand vessels are bought with the help of several loyal investors.

For several years, some of the multipurpose containers vessels are employed to transport project cargo from Northern Europe to the Mediterranean and Black Sea.

Rolf Holwerda’s three sons; Henk, Han and Wessel come to work for the family business. This is the 6th generation of the Holwerda family in shipping.

After the Corona pandemic, the container market rushes to new heights. This moment is used to sell several containers vessels and return to the project cargo market.

In 2022, we ordered two eco friendly multipurpose vessels at the GS yard in Groningen. Both the new-build ‘Alma’ and ‘Alinda’ have a deadweight of 3700 tons and have an open top notation.