Smit International

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Smit Internationale
Type	Public (Euronext: SMIT)
Founded	1842
Headquarters	Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Key people	Ben Vree, CEO W.H. Kanis, CFO
Industry	Maritime services
Products	Towage Salvage
Revenue	▲ € 75.0 million Eur (2006)
Net income	▲ € 470.3 million Eur (2006)
Employees	2,653 (2006 average)
Website	www.smit.com

Taklift 7, with a lifting capacity of 1600 tons owned by Smit Internationale

One of Smit's ocean-going tugs

Smit Internationale (or Smit International) is a Dutch company operating in the maritime sector. The company was founded by Fop Smit as a towagecompany with a single steampowered tug in 1842. After a merger with Internationale Sleepdienst the name was changed to the present name. The company is listed at the NYSE Euronext stock exchange in Amsterdam.

[edit] Corporate structure

The company consist of 4 divisions, in order of revenue:

Transport & Heavy Lift (33.5% of total revenues)
Salvage (23.9%)
Harbour Towage (22.8%)
Terminals (19.8%)

[edit] High profile operations

Its marine salvage division was involved in several high-profile salvage operations such as:

The Herald of Free Enterprise (1987)
The Russian submarine Kursk (2000)
The Ehime Maru (2001)
The Prestige (2001)
The Tricolor (2002)
The Mighty Servant 3 (2006)
The M/S UND Adriyatik (2008)

Internationally, Smit International is known mostly for its expertise in salvage operations.

Often unrealized is the environmental importance of oil removal in many salvage operations. Smit International has dedicated much research into their modern equipment used to extract remaining oil of sunken vessels. They have also partnered with the French firm JLMD System to support preinstalled Fast Oil Recovery systems which assure quick reliable oil removal in the event of a shipping accident.