Scheepswerf J. & K. Smit (IHC)

During the Second World War, a number of yards decided to join forces. They included Werf Gusto in Schiedam, Verschure in Amsterdam, Werf Conrad in Haarlem, L. Smit & Zn. in Kinderdijk, J. & K. Smit in Kinderdijk and De Klop in Sliedrecht. The combined yards focused primarily on the joint sales of dredging equipment. All the companies involved retained their independence.

The partnership between the yards was so successful that it resulted, in 1965, in the founding of the Industriële Handels Combinatie Holland NV. A share flotation followed. Kinderdijk became the home base for IHC Holland, providing jobs at the time for about 6,500 people.

When the worldwide recession hit the shipbuilding industry in the 1970s, all the Dutch shipyards had to weather stormy times. IHC Holland was broken up. The offshore activities moved abroad under the name IHC Caland while shipbuilding stayed in the Netherlands under the IHC Holland flag.

Later, in 1987, IHC Caland regained ownership of IHC Holland and it acquired De Merwede in 1993. De Merwede had been founded in 1902 when Christiaan van Vliet, who had already managed two shipyards, got together with his neighbour Paulus Langeveld to establish ‘Langeveld & Van Vliet - scheepswerf De Merwede’. De Merwede has now become a major shipyard, with the most varied ships coming off the slipway. In 1996, IHC Caland also bought the Van der Giessen-de Noord yard, which was later shut down, but then recommissioned in 2006.