The Deutsche Afrika-Linien GmbH & Co./ John T. Essberger GmbH & Co. (DAL/JTE) is a German shipping company, based in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

. It has a workforce of 1200–1300 world-wide and an annual turnover of about $350 million. The headquarters of Palmaille in Hamburg-Altona is situated on the

Elbe River The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper and , ) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Republic), then Germany and flo ...

and consists of an 18th-century palace and several modern buildings. The company operates container and general cargo services between Europe, the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

, eastern and southern Africa, and Indian Ocean ports. Gas and chemical tankers are operated under the name Essberger Tankers. In addition, the group offers logistics and insurance services, as well as the travel agency 'Hammonia Travel'. It was founded in Hamburg in 1924 as the Essberger-Tankschiffreederei, by the John Theodor Essberger (1886–1959). Essberger was British-born but had become a naturalised German citizen before 1914. He commanded torpedo-boats during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and was named 'Leader of German shipping' during the

Third Reich Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

. In 1942 Essberger took over the Woermann-Linie and

Deutsche Ost-Afrika Linie Deutsche Ost-Afrika Linie (''German East Africa Line'', or DOAL) was a shipping line, established in 1890 as an alternative to the existing shipping services to East Africa, including German East Africa (1891–1919), then dominated by United Ki ...

from the cigarette manufacturer Philipp Fürchtegott Reemtsma. After the war, the fleet was dispossessed. However, Essberger soon built up a new fleet and became once again one of the largest private shipowners in West Germany. After Essberger's death in 1959, the company was taken over by his daughter, Liselotte von Rantzau-Essberger (1918–1993). Just before the oil crisis of 1973, the company placed an order for two new large tankers. The new ships were launched in 1975 at Geltinger Bay and later sold at a considerable loss. In the 1980s, Liselotte's sons Dr. Eberhart von Rantzau and Heinrich von Rantzau took charge of the company. Following a close partnership with Safmarine for many decades, Deutsche Afrika-Linien and Safmarine decided to form a long-term alliance called the Safmarine / DAL Joint Venture (SAFDAL) in 1997 to represent their commercial interests in the Southern Africa Europe Container Service (SAECS). Since then, the business has expanded slowly, but steadily and has expanded into chemical tanker transport. Today, the fleet of DAL/John T. Essberger has 34 dry cargo ships and tankers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deutsche Afrika-Linien John T. Essberger Group of Companies Financial services companies established in 1924 Shipping companies of Germany Insurance companies of Germany Travel insurance companies Companies based in Hamburg Transport companies established in 1924 German companies established in 1924