The company Reederei Zürich AG was founded on January 31, 1995 as J&W Shipping AG in Zurich. J and W were the initials of the two company founders Jönsson and Weiner, two Swedes who emigrated to Switzerland at a young age.

At the beginning of 1998, the company name was changed to its current name Reederei Zürich AG. The company should not be confused with Reederei Zürich AG, which was operated by Migros Genossenschaftsbund between 1951 and 1987.

The first office of today's Reederei Zürich AG was located at Forchstrasse 34 in Zurich. At the beginning of 1995, the company bought its first ship, a six-year-old “handy-max” bulk carrier, which was named AVENTICUM and registered under the Swiss flag on May 5, 1995. After that, only newbuildings followed. The first and third bulk carrier were built by Oshima Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. in Oshima, Japan. The second newbuilding was delivered by Tsuneishi Zosen K.K., Numakuma, Japan.

Today's six Supramax Bulk Carriers are all built by Tsuneishi Group (Zhoushan) Shipbuilding Inc, Zhoushan, Daishan County ZJ, P. R. of China. The latest three ships were built according to the shipyard's newly developed TESS-58 AEROLINE design. This design results in considerable fuel savings. All ships are equipped with cranes and grabs. They can therefore unload or take on board their cargo even in small, poorly equipped ports.

The ships sail worldwide in tramp shipping and the shipping company maintains relationships with charterers all over the world. Six ships currently sail for the shipping company.

Since the founding of the shipping company, the ships have been operated with full crews from the Philippines, who are hired through a recruitment agency in Manila. Today, the shipping company has good, long-standing permanent staff.

After the first address at Forchstrasse 34 in Zurich, the company had two further locations in residential areas of Hottingen on the Zürichberg. Since 2018, the shipping company is located on Rämistrasse in the city centre, about 100 meters from Bellvueplatz.

Today, six people work in the office, taking care of the commercial and technical operation of the ships.

Björn Lindblom, Reederei Zürich AG

SwissShips April 2024