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Wallenius Lines/Wilhelmsen Lines

Norwegian and Swedish flags

Last modified: 2014-05-31 by zoltán horváth
Keywords: house flag | shipping: norway | shipping: sweden | wallenius lines | wilhelmsen lines |
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Wallenius Lines/Wilhelmsen Lines (current flag)
[Olaf Wallenius Rederi]
image by Jarig Bakker


See also:


Wallenius/Wilhelmsen Lines

Wilh. Wilhelmsen ASA was a private Norwegian company from 1861 until 1985 when it was restructured as a public company with the current name dating from 1997. From 1.7.99 they formed a merger with the Swedish company Wallenius Rederierna to become Wallenius Wilhelmsen Lines with a white flag bearing 2 connected "W"s, the connection being looped and which can be seen at the Josef Nüsse site but having seen Wallenius car carriers since then it appears that they still operate under their own individual liveries.
Neale Rosanoski, 5 August 2003


From a press release (12 December 2005):

From January 1, 2006, the company will be fully operational under its new name Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics. The name change reflects the company's expanded service offering to bring the same high standards employed for ocean transportation into the company's broader outbound logistics offering.

Kristian Söderberg, 15 July 2006


The supposed merger was for their operating activities only on a 50/50 basis and the two principals are still separate companies. It was marked by the formation of one joint venture company, Wallenius Willhelmsen Lines A/B , and as Kristian advises this was renamed Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics. The flag of the double "W" is theirs and is unchanged with a photo of the actual to be seen on their website.
Neale Rosanoski, 25 October 2006


Wallenius Lines

Wallenius Lines
[Wallenius Lines]
image by Jorge Candeias, March 1999

The Wallenius line has a green flag with yellow letter OW on it. The official name of the company is Olof Wallenius Rederi AB Soya. It was founded in 1934. In 1999 it merged with Wilhelmsen Lines), apparently Wilhemsen retained its houseflag but for the combined company a new houseflag has been designed, now also flying on the Wallenius building, mentioned before, which consists of a white field and two blue w's with something like an uppercase o in between.
Jarig Bakker, 3 August 2003

It is a Swedish flag, but not quite right [see Nüsse table flag] but close. The flag shown by Kludas merely shows that the German subsidiary Wallenius Bremen GmbH & Co KG, Bremen, which operated from the 1960s to around 1980, used the parent company colours. The flag as shown by Klaus-Michael is incorrect in that the letters are supposed to be a yellow, not orange, the Wallenius green is a dark shade not light and there was no "Otto" Wallenius. The founder of the company was Olof [not Olaf as some sources show] and Kludas does not mention any first name, just the activities of Wallenius Bremen GmbH & Co KG.
Neale Rosanoski, 05 August 2012


Wilhelmsen Lines
Wilh. Wilhelmsen ASA

Wilh. Wilhelmsen ASA - Brown (1926) depiction
[W. Wilhelmsen flag]
image by Jarig Bakker 11 February 2005
Source: Brown's Flags and Funnels of British and Foreign Steamship Companies [wed26]

Oslo - white flag, blue "W" - the W is serifed.
Jarig Bakker, 11 February 2005

Brazilian website rendition
[Wilhelmsen Steamship Line]
image by Jorge Candeias 2 June 2002
Source: http://www.naufragiosdobrasil.com.br/Naviosvaporchamineest.htm

Wilhelmsen Lines A/S
[Houseflag of Wilhelmsen Lines]
image by Jarig Bakker, 11 October 2005
Source: Brown’s Flags and Funnels of Shipping Companies of the World, 1995 [lgr95]

At a Brazilian site http://www.naufragiosdobrasil.com.br/Naviosvaporchamineest.htm there's a flag attributed to a Wilhelmsen Steamship Line, a white flag with a blue W, centered.
Jorge Candeias, 2 June 2002


The Brazilian web site is in error in labeling it Swedish.

However, the company has a Swedish connection. In recent times Wilhelmsen cooperates with the Swedish shipping company Wallenius. This company is known as Wallenius Wilhelmsen Lines (which was the company that operated the Tampa, the ship that picked up some shipwrecked people off Indonesia and had some difficulties with the Australian government over where to land them). I am not sure, but I think the house flag of Wallenius Wilhelmsen is the very same blue W on white.
Jan Oskar Engene, 5 June 2002


To be more exact it is Wilh. Wilhelmsen ASA (to differentiate from Anders Wilhelmsen & Co) and the flag as sighted 1986 and 1998 has a dark blue letter. This contrasts with the light blue of the funnel bands and sources tend to show them both the same shade. Griffin 1895 and Reed 1912 actually show a red "W" but nobody else mentions such a use. They merged 1.7.1999 with Wallenius Lines to form Wallenius Wilhelmsen Lines. A subsidiary, Wilhelmsen Lines A/S, was formed in 1989 and continued to operate under its own name with a white flag bearing in the hoist a large black "W" slightly angled towards the fly and broken a 3 very narrow light blue lines, two at the top and one at the bottom. Next to this at the bottom in small black lettering also angled is the legend "WILHELMSEN" over "LINES" with a clearer example available on the Josef Nüsse site. Although shown by Brown 1995 it may not have been an actual sea flag as their vessel Armacup Patricia was sighted in 1998 with the plain Wilhelmsen flag.
Neale Rosanoski, 11 December 2003