Our history

The GIESSENSTROOM was the second tug that became part of the ‘fleet’ of Van Wijngaarden Marine Services,

The LINGESTROOM was the third ship that was added to the Van Wijngaarden Marine Services fleet. 

This image shows motor tug VLIESTROOM in a new colour scheme. The ship provides assistance to cutter suction dredger ‘Otter’. 

Initially, when the new shipping company was founded, no attention was paid to the colour scheme by which the ships of Van Wijngaarden Marine Services could be recognized.

The VLIESTROOM of Van Wijngaarden Marine Services was deployed for the construction of the Spaarbekkens in the Biesbosch (Brabant).

Between 1979-1980, the LINGESTROOM, together with the Vliestroom and Giessenstroom, was used for transportation of sand for the construction of a double-lane highway; the A7 in Hoorn in the province of North Holland.

The MERWESTROOM has been named after the Merwede river; a tidal river in the southwest of the Netherlands.

On Wednesday May 19, 1982, Van Wijngaarden Marine Services puts its new build twin screw tug, the Dintelstroom, into use. 

The SCHELDESTROOM owes its name to the ‘Schelde’, a 350 kilometer long river that originates in the French municipality of Gouy in the north of France.

The LINGESTROOM, based on the design of Mr. C. van Gelder, tugboat VMT 84 was built by Van Mill Scheepswerf and Machinefabriek BV / Bno. 132.

The SCHELDESTROOM was one of the workboats of Van Wijngaarden Marine Services which was put to work during the immense construction project of the Oosterscheldekering in Zeeland. The image displays the Scheldestroom in action with the innovative ‘crew cabin’ on deck.

The GEULSTROOM owes its name to the ‘Geul’ river. This small river – it is only 58 kilometers long – originates from several sources in Belgium near the German border and enters the Netherlands near Cottessen. Just above Itteren, the Geul flows into the ‘Maas’.

By deploying this ‘Inland shipping fleet’, Van Wijngaarden Marine Services was able to provide assistance to – amongst others –local shipyards and maritime service providers in the area.

The MAASSTROOM owes its name to the ‘Maas’, a 950 kilometer long river. This river originates in France and then flows through Belgium and the Netherlands. For the Netherlands, the Maas is the southernmost of all its major rivers. The Maas flows into the North Sea via the Dutch river delta.

The WADDENSTROOM owes its name to the ‘Waddenzee’; the strech of sea between the Wadden Islands and the North Sea. The sea is 500 kilometers long and on average 20 kilometers wide and extends from Den Helder, the Netherlands to Esbjerg, Denmark. The Waddenzee includes tidal areas (mudflats and sandbanks), islands, salt marshes and summer polders and fairways.

On Monday September 25, 1989, the DINTELSTROOM, with 437 nautical miles ahead, sets sail from Eastney (UK) to Conwy (UK). 

Excitement at Project Marbella in Spain! The GIESSENSTROOM very carefully maneuvers past the suction dredger ‘Volvox Delta’.

On the first day of his visit to the Netherlands, President Herzog of Germay turned out to be a real gentleman.

This meant that tug LINGESTROOM was optimally deployed as a multifunctional work vessel.

The Eemstroom (built as ‘Annemiek’) was purchased from trade.

For the client - depending on the project - these two vessels make a beautiful combination.

The Grote Beltbrug (Storebæltsbroen) is a fixed connection across the Grote Belt between the Danish islands of Funen and Seeland and between the cities of Nyborg and Korsør. 

Van Wijngaarden Marine Services has had a ‘home office’ for over 25 years. First in the Jupiterstraat, followed by the Rembrandtstraat and finally at the Zalm, all in Hardinxveld. 

On Friday, March 6, 1998, Van Wijngaarden Marine Services was celebrating, partly because of the commissioning of the multipurpose tug Gouwestroom.

On July 5th of this year, the bno.667 was launched at Scheepswerf en Machinefabriek ‘De Merwede’.

As a result of a total ‘blackout’: no longer having propulsion and working rudders, in combination with a very strong current due to ‘lots of high water’, the motor ship ‘Haugo’ found itself stuck crosswise in front of the Gorinchem bridge.

To protect the vulnerable coastlines and partly to prepare beaches for tourism, Van Wijngaarden Marine Services has collaborated on sand replenishment projects for years.

The DVVO could not always conduct its task using only its own equipment. Therefore the civilian market requested additional means of transport. 

The use of a cutter suction dredger endorses the suspicion that it may have been an ‘extension’ of the port of Livorno, Italy, located on the Ligurian Sea.

The christening and transfer of the newly built Amstelstroom vessel occurred on March 26, 2004, in the municipal port of Hardinxveld-Giessendam, near the location of supplier Damen Shipyards Hardinxveld BV / bno.

This time it did not involve a launch of a dredging vessel, as is usually the case at IHC. It concerned the hull of a real motor passenger ship (115.0 x 11.5 x 3.70 / 1.70 m). This passenger ship would later be named ‘De Zonnebloem’.

On January 19, 2006, the time had come: the festive handover and christening of the new GIESSENSTROOM / bno. 571571.

For Van Wijngaarden Marine Services, this came to be a contract with the Marine & Salvage Department of the British Ministry of Defense (MoD).

The Thorntonbank Wind Farm is an offshore wind farm, 30 kilometers off the Belgian coast, in water ranging from 12 to 27 meters deep.

On Friday, November 26, 2009, the Sliedrecht-based company added two new work vessels to its fleet. A new milestone for Van Wijngaarden Marine Services.

Multipurpose: heavy hydraulic deck cranes for lifting operations, gas oil and drinking water tanks combined with pumps for transport of these liquids, ‘C-locks’ for seafastening containers, a separate ‘crew-cabin’ for passenger transport, etc.

Various companies from the Netherlands and Germany collaborated on the Oeververdedigingsconcept project on the Nedersaksische bank.

The fifth anniversary is quite ‘special’ for the Giessenstroom, because it has experienced a lot far away from home.