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Erich Drescher (German Shipping Company)

Reederei Erich Drescher (1955-1978); Reederei Joachim Drescher KG (1978-1983)

image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 10 May 2009

Erich Drescher
Erich Drescher #2

See also:

Erich Drescher

Reederei Erich Drescher (1955-1978); Reederei Joachim Drescher KG (1978-1983)
Brief history: The company was located in Hamburg. The origins of the company go back to the 1930's. Wilhelm A.N. Hansen, an employee of Rob.M.Sloman Jr. established an independent company, which was in abeyance from 1940 til 1947. Hansen meanwhile had died without any heir. So Erich Drescher received the company from Hansen’s widow. He knew Hansen already from his days at Rob.M.Sloman as a shipbroker.
He had to leave the company in 1939 in order to join the navy. After WWII he organized scrapping of shipwrecks until 1949. Having support of allied occupation forces he also built up a new company and worked again as a shipbroker. In 1955 he acquired his first own ship from ARGO Reederei, the vessel DROSSEL. In the following year the fleet increased, all ship names ended with “–TORF”. In 1957 a new built ship, the SOTTORF was acquired. In bad times for shipping business in the early 1960ies there only remained two vessels, the SOTTORF and the SINSTORF.
Due to the beginning of container shipping Drescher modernized his fleet one by one. But he suddenly died on 7 March 1971 before having finished that task. His son Joachim Drescher became his successor, then aged 25. He continued the modernization and acquired greater ships, now named by family members.
In 1978 he acquired the CORINNA DRESCHER which operated on a line to South America chartered by Lloyd Brasileiro for two years together with two other ships of Drescher. As in the late 1970's the state of Lower Saxony refused guarantees, that had been announced before, Drescher had to cancel the orders for two more new built ships. When the CORINNA DRESCHER sunk on 26 November 1981, the company followed its ship. The company had to face difficulties with dockyards. More orders had to be cancelled. Though Drescher received another multi-purpose ship from Japan on 15 March 1983, he could no longer survive and the company went into bankruptcy within the same year. Drescher was accused and charged for having committed a fraud. And so the company was dissolved.
Source: HANSA – international maritime journal 2008, no.9 published on: :www.wilhansen.com/fileadmin/klage/33.pdf

Description of flag#1: It is a yellow over white over yellow horizontal tricolour with red initials “ED” in its centre.
Source: “Deutsche Reedereien und ihre Erkennungszeichen”; 2nd ed.; Hamburg; 1956; p.15.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 10 May 2009

Erich Drescher #2

image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 10 May 2009

Description of flag#2:
Nearly the same, but the initials are shaped like a trapezium.
Source: HANSA – international maritime journal 2008, no.9 published on: :www.wilhansen.com/fileadmin/klage/33.pdf.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 10 May 2009