Although Switzerland is a land-locked country, seagoing vessels flying the Swiss flag can be encountered in all the world‘s ports. The foundation of the Swiss shipping fleet goes back to 1941, when national provisions were threatened due to the war.

The desire for a Swiss flag for merchant ships was first expressed 150 years ago when James Funk, a Swiss émigré to America who reached the rank of Captain, applied to the Federal Council for permission to fly the Swiss flag on his ship, the "William Tell". The government commissioned the Federal Military Department of Defence to have the flag made. An American who had named his boat "Helvetia" was granted the same privilege.

The flag was a very sensible precaution, since the nationality of a ship could protect its occupants from pirates, and in times of war cargo ships registered under a neutral country could count on recognition of their status by the naval powers. lt was only in 1921 that the transportation conference in Barcelona recognised the right of landlocked countries to fly their flag on the high seas.

Precautions on the eve of the War

Shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War Switzerland still believed it could manage without its own merchant fleet. On 1 April 1938 the Federal Assembly passed a law empowering the Federal Council to implement precautionary measures for transport in the event of war. The result was the creation of the Office of War Transport (KTA, Kriegstransportamt) within the Department of the Economy, with the aim of organising the requisite import of goods from overseas. The KTA chartered 15 Greek freighters - all large, modern ships flying under the flag of their neutral homeland.

At that time only two shipping companies were operating in Switzerland. The Lausanne-based André & Cie. trading company had operated a modern grain transporter, the "St-Cergue" (7600 dwt) since 1938, sailing under the flag of Panama, while the Basle-based Schweizerische Reederei AG operated a fleet of Rhine ships and held a share in two small motor ships, the "Albula" and the "Bernina" (413 dwt each), registered under the Dutch flag. In the spring of 1940, with the participation of the Association of Swiss Gasworks, Schweizerische Reederei AG purchased two more freighters registered in Panama: the "Maloja" (built in 1906, 2650dwt) and the "Calanda" (built in 1913, 7400 dwt).

Following Italy‘s entry into the War and the fall of France, the Allies blocked off all seagoing traffic to our country. For more than six months 21 freighters with cargoes destined for Switzerland lay in Funchal (Madeira) and other ports. The British requisitioned five of the Greek steamships but permitted the rest of the fleet to ply the Atlantic route. Italy, on the other hand, after the attack on Greece at the end of October 1940, laid down the condition that ships leased from Switzerland had to sail under a neutral flag. The Federal Council was forced to react, and on 9 April 1941 the "Decree on shipping under the Swiss flag" came into force.

Casualties of war

War losses were inevitable. The Greek steamship "Mount Lycabettus" chartered by die KTA was torpedoed in the Atlantic on 17 March 1942 and went down with all 30 crew. The "Maloja" was sunk on 7 September 1943 offCorsica. Three sailors died. Until her demise the "Maloja" had transported over 40,000 tons of goods for Switzerland on a regular route between Lisbon and the Mediterranean ports of Genoa and Savona. On 22 April 1944 British airforce planes attacked die "Chasseral". When the Germans bombed the harbour at Marseille in November of die same year, the "Albula" was, so badly damaged that she sank. The "Generoso" ran into a mine, killing her Russian captain.

The "St-Cergue" was more fortunate and remained active in the service of die KTA for the entire duration of the war. On 15 April 1942 she picked up ten survivors from the wreck of the Norwegian tanker "Koll". On 27 June 1942 she rescued 209 survivors of the Dutch ship "Jagersfontein", and on 25 March 1943 she saved 22 saiors from the Swedish freighter "Industria".

At the end of the war the fleet numbered nine vessels. Because most of these were very old, slow ships, the key question arose as to whether Switzerland should continue to operate a merchant fleet under its own flag. A survey produced positive resuits, primarily by reason of the post-war economic situation, and on 23 September 1953 both houses of Parliament passed the "Federal Law on Shipping under the Swiss Flag".

Hans R. Bachmann *

* Hans R. Bachmann is a former deck officer and foreign correspondent. In 1966 he published a book entitled "Schweizer Schiffahrt auf den Meeren" and currently works as a journalist/editor in Greifensee.

 The changing face of Swiss shipping

The Swiss merchant marine currently comprises 13 freighters for bulk transport, a multipurpose freighter and three freighters for the transportation of wine and chemicals. Several of Switzerland‘s five shipping companies also sail ships under a foreign flag. At the end of 1998 a total of 319 sailors were employed on Swiss ships, of whom 27 held Swiss nationality (8.5 percent). At the same time there were four Swiss captains, and of the 48 deck officers five had a Swiss passport. The engineers - once a practically exclusive Swiss domain - boasted only four Swiss among their 53 officers.

Why the lack of interest in the navy as a profession? Nowadays people can travel to distant lands at very little cost. Freighters generally stay in port only a few hours and, moreover, are usually berthed in unattractive industrialzones. Sailors have to work long and hard in all weathers and their low pay is dictated by economic globalisation.

© HRB 1999