SMIT INTERNATIONAL.

The original S294 livery served ocean-going tugs, while S295 gives the harbour-tug funnel. A red diamond was added to the flag: Loughran dates this to 1966, but Brown’s 1958 notes already record it as a post-printing change. Ships & the Sea calls the blue funnel band light.

The blue flag with a yellow linked-chain design was adopted around 1971 as a group livery, assigned by Brown to both Smit Internationale and Smit-Lloyd. Mitchell gives a dark-blue funnel, unlike the later photographic evidence, and also shows the S296 funnel without explanation.

Smit Clyde was photographed without a black funnel top in April 2005, while other vessels such as Smit Finland had one. The funnel appears lighter blue than the partly visible flag.

The sources use different Smit company names for the liveries. Adelaar appears in a photograph with a Sleepdienst Jan Kooren funnel, but Rosanoski found no evidence establishing a takeover or other connection.

The business dates to 1842. After Fop Smit died in 1866, sons Jan and Leendert continued as L. Smit & Co., merging with Internationale Sleepdienst in 1923. The name became Smit Internationale in 1972. The later group combined Smit-Lloyd, Smit Internationale and Smit-Spido, and was reorganised in 1988 into salvage, supply, offshore contracting, harbour towage and fleet-services sectors. Ulrich Harms was acquired in 1972, renamed Smit International (Germany) in 1997 and returned to the Harms name after sale in 2001. Fairplay became a major Smit shareholder in 2008 in exchange for its Unie van-Redding en Sleepdienst interest.

The group expanded internationally through operations including the former Pentow Marine, acquired in 1999 and renamed Smit Marine South Africa in 2002; the former Damen business in Gabon; and operations in Germany, Scotland, Panama and Venezuela. Joint ventures included Smit & Cory, S.W.I. and Smitwijs with Wijsmuller. Its Unie Van Redding-en Sleepdienst stake rose from 25% in 1999 to 50% in 2004 before it bought Fairplay’s remainder in 2008. Takmarine and Smit Vessel Management Services were formed in 1993 and 2002 respectively.

Netherlands, Rotterdam.