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Mammoet Shipping Company (The Netherlands)

image by Jarig Bakker, 5 Apr 2005

Mammoet
Mammoet burgee
Mammoet ferries
Mammoet variant

See also:

Mammoet

Mammoet Shipping Company, V.o.F., Amsterdam - yellow flag, blue stylized "M"/mammut, after Loughran's "A Survey of Mercantile Houseflags & Funnels", 1979
Jarig Bakker, 27 January 2005

Some facts gleaned from “Duwvaart” (1988) by Jansen & Van Heck pp. 52-53.
To begin with, some history: Mammoet was the new name of amalgamated companies Johannes Goedkoop NV Hijs & Transport Maatschappij, Amsterdam and Van Wezel, Hengelo; in 1970 Stoof of Breda was taken over; the important shipping company KNSM became a shareholder. From the beginning the firm specialized in exceptionally heavy transport (on water as well as over land).
The complete name is given in above source as ‘Mammoet Goedkoop B.V. Hijs & Transport Maatschappij’, Amsterdam (i.e. Mammoet Goedkoop Ltd Hoist and Transport Co.), Goedkoop not meaning “cheap” but rather a well-known name in Dutch shipping!

Jansen & Van Heck show a b/w drawing of a triangular pennant (length twice that of the height), a “so-called jack” in their words, being blue and
bearing a white mammoth shaped like the one above. As yet I haven't found any photos.

Some more information here:
Founded (sic, jm) 1973 by KNSM (perhaps the moment the yellow flag was introduced?) and following this firm when it became part of Nedlloyd in 1981. When the heavy transport department was sold to transporter Van Seumeren this firm let Spliethoff, already owner of 70% of Mammoet, buy its part of the maritime activities. However since Van Seumeren had named its own activities ‘Mammoet’, Mammoet Shipping had to be renamed. From 2000 on it is known as BigLift Shipping.
Main group website, see especially ‘Group of Companies’ under ‘The Company’ such as ‘Mammoet Road Cargo’ showing vertical eye-catching banners.

On this site: see ‘Company Profile’ for white flag with red mammoth (ferried road transport).
Mammoet Salvage is the newest, starting out on 1 January 2006: the idea is to rapidly become the equal of Smit International and Wijsmuller. It became internationally known by the salvage of the Russian submarine "Kursk".
Jan Mertens, 7 Mar 2006

Mammoet burgee

image by Jarig Bakker, 2 Mar 2006

Mammoet ferries

image by Jarig Bakker, 2 Mar 2006

Mammoet variant

image sent by Jan Mertens, 7 Jan 2007

See following page presented in the message concerning Ancora Shipping (21 Dec. 2006): Photos are clickable, the first one shows – among other flags – two red
variant Mammoet house flags with white name ‘MAMMOET’ (no serifs) underneath the animal which is rendered in grey.
And that is not all, a small stripe along the hoist (one fourth white on top, the rest black) has the words ‘VAN SEUMEREN GROUP’ in white letters (no serifs) on the black part of said stripe.

Van Seumeren, owner of Mammoet, is briefly mentioned in the comments above. This article (in Dutch) about a brochure concerning Mammoet explains that not Mammoet was 40 years old in 2006, as is misleadingly suggested, but rather Van Seumeren. So the company presently owning Mammoet was founded in 1966, Mammoet itself apparently in 1971, whereas 2000 was the year Van Seumeren took over. More on this takeover (in Dutch again) here: Top man Frans van Seumeren comments, drolly, that ‘Mammoet’ is easy to pronounce all over the world! What I do not know, is whether all Mammoet flags are now expected to mention the company owner (surely not?).
Jan Mertens, 7 Jan 2007