No, this piece is not about sustainability or environmental friendliness, although Ackermans & van Haaren also devotes considerable attention to those themes. Here, green takes centre stage as the company colour.
On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the partnership between Nicolaas van Haaren and Hendrik Willem Ackermans, we delved into the archives. There, we found numerous old photographs of ships from the time when the company, under its own name, was fully active as a dredging business and contractor for maritime infrastructure works. Ackermans & van Haaren’s steamships were easily recognisable by the double row of dark and light triangles on their funnels. Thanks to several paintings of these vessels, we also know that these were green-and-white triangles.
When Ackermans & van Haaren and CFE merged their dredging activities in 1984, Dredging International was created. The logo of that company already featured the emblem that is still present in the DEME logo today. Its logo colors were blue and green, and Dredging International’s ships were also painted green.
That color tradition was maintained when Dredging International and Baggerwerken Decloedt were merged into DEME Group (Dredging, Environmental and Marine Engineering) in 1991.
Even after Ackermans & van Haaren evolved from a dredging company into an investor, including in Dredging International and later in DEME, various shades of green remained prominently present in many company publications for a long time. At the time of the initial public offering (IPO) in 1984, the prospectus also featured a green-and-black design.
Although the tower of the Antwerp headquarters soon grew into a defining graphic element, the characteristic ‘clay green’ color did not appear until the 2007 annual report. DEME has remained faithful to that green signature to this day. For example, the two vessels under construction for the recently acquired Havfram were also quickly executed in the familiar green.
Curious to discover more facts like these? Be sure to visit the exhibition ‘150 Years of Sustainable Growth’. From 12 June onwards, this exhibition can be seen in the reception area of Ackermans & van Haaren’s office at Begijnenvest in Antwerp. You can visit free of charge and without registration on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, each time from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.