Delmas (shipping company)
Delmas Shipping, based in Le Havre, France, was a containerized-freight and ro-ro shipping company, mainly carrying trade between western Europe and Africa. It was the largest cargo carrier between European and African ports, and Europe's oldest extant shipping line. Delmas is wholly owned by the CMA CGM Group, having been acquired from the Bolloré Group for €470 million in 2005. The Delmas brand was fully integrated into CMA CGM in March 2016. The company operated a fleet of 49 vessels with a collective capacity of , on 15 routes between Europe, Africa and the Indian Ocean. History Delmas Freres was founded by Julien & Frank Delmas in 1867 to transport coal and raw materials from the French port of La Rochelle. In 1910 the company was renamed Delmas Vieljeux after its president, joint owner and Mayor of La Rochelle, Leonce Vieljeux. The first Delmas shipyard opened in 1922 and international shipping began in 1925 with imports of mahogany from the African state of Gabon for use in boxes for storage of butter and cheese. After World War II the company relocated to Le Havre and began to specialise in Africa-European trade. It was acquired by the Bolloré Group in a