[2] At that time, Bydgoszcz was one of the few cities of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth which had a river shipping professional association; the others were located in Gdańsk, Toruń, Kazimierz Dolny and Jarosław.

Its shareholders were: Lewin Louis Aronsohn, a banker and a commercial counselor and Heinrich Dietz, Fritz Kleindienst, Karl Wenzel and Emil Werckmeister, city councilors.

During Prussian times, the company's Supervisory Board was chaired by mayors of Bydgoszcz (e.g. Hugo Braesicke, Alfred Knobloch, Paul Mitzlaff) and city councilor Heinrich Dietz.

Louis Aronsohn was the deputy chairman for many years and many well-known German merchants, manufacturers and bankers from Bydgoszcz and the region were members of the board, such as Emil Werckmeister, Max Francke or Wilhelm Blumwe.

The company purchased plots of land in villages around Bydgoszcz, today integrated as city districts: "Zimne Wody", "Kapuściska", "Siernieczek" with a folwark and "Czersko Polskie" with a mill and a brickyard.

On the other hand, following the contract concluded with the State Treasury,[4] the Prussian government had to improve the condition of the waterways between the Vistula and the Oder rivers.

[4] The shipyard was manufacturing screw steamers, berlinkas and other river ships, out of wood and steel; in addition, the facility was used to repair the floating rolling stock.

The same year, the Water Construction Office in Bromberg (Polish: Urząd Budownictwa Wodnego w Bydgoszczy) realized large works in the river meander, allowing the shipping company to lay down a road (present day Sporna street) through the newly created island (today's "Island on Zimne Wody", Polish: Wyspa na Zimnych Wodach) by the means of two steel bridges, hence connecting "Weg Chausse nach Fordon" with "Thornerstraβe" (today Fordońska and Toruńska streets).

[4] In the 1910s, the Bydgoszcz Shipping Society built workers housing estates in "Zimne Wody", "Czersk Polski", and restaurants near the port and the machine factory (1905).

By 1919, a local branch was established in Gdańsk and representative offices for goods shipment were set up in Tczew, Gniew, Korzeniewo, Nowe and Świecie.

[4] With the takeover of Bydgoszcz back to Polish hands on January 19, 1920, the company had its name changed to Lloyd Bydgoski, Bromberger Schleppschiffahrt, Towarzystwo Akcyjne (English: Lloyd Bydgoski, Bydgoszcz Tugboat Company, Joint Stock Society) with Polish citizens as members of the management board, such as engineer Stanisław Rolbieski.

In addition most of the German employees were forced to leave the city: therefore, the company, in a dire economic situation between 1920 and 1925, had workers brought from the Greater Poland Voivodeship and Galicia.

[4] While the Lloyd's transshippment harbour, distillery and the sawmills had a low activity, the shipyard, the brickyard and the machine factory were working at full speed.

The late 1920s saw rapid fluctuations in the timber demand and an increase in the water transport via the Vistula river to the detriment of the Bydgoszcz Canal and the transshipping operations of "Zimne Wody" port.

In 1928, the firm sold to the city of Bydgoszcz several assets: Sporna Street, two iron bridges and irrigation fields located in "Kapuściska" and "Czersko Polskie".

From 1934 on, despite the general economic lull and the increase in freight shipping, the company's financial health did not improve, since the profits were partially covering the accumulated losses, overdue taxes and social benefits.

[4] The main shareholder of the Society during the occupation became the company "Preussische Bergwerks- und Hütten Aktiengesellschaft" or "Preussag" from Berlin, the ancestor of today's TUI Group.

The company had still branches in Warsaw, Poznań and Gdańsk, main offices located in Naklo, Czarnków, Ujście, Gorzów Wielkopolski and Międzychód, with representatives present in Grudziądz, Płock and Włocławek.

[6] Within the new political order, the company's scope changed radically and concentrated anew to the east-west flow, towards Germany, as it used to be under Prussia times.

[8] During this period, German motor barges traveled through the Bydgoszcz Canal and the Vistula River from Third Reich territory to East Prussia, carrying coal and other raw material.

In 1947, the District Liquidation Office (Polish: Główny Urząd Likwidacyjny), a governmental body managing "abandoned property", transferred the company and its assets to the city of Bydgoszcz.

On January 1, 1952, it became the "Shipping Department on the Vistula in Bydgoszcz" (Polish: Ekspozytura Żeglugi na Wiśle w Bydgoszczy), with its own accounting and balance sheets.

To make it worse in 1948-1949, 34 large barges from the operational fleet were handed over to a Shipping firm on the Oder river by the order of the Ministry of Communications.

One can mention, among other assets, motor barges, pusher boats, inland tankers and passenger ships ("Ondyna" for Bydgoszcz, "Dziwożona" for Poznań and "Wodnik" for Toruń ) which transported 120,000 persons in 1972.

[6] In the 1950s, the bulk of the goods shipped was Soviet iron ore, transiting from rail wagons in Bydgoszcz and Poznań ports towards Szczecin's steel mills.

Żegluga Bydgoska's shipment (1955-1981)[3]: A considerable deterioration of the economic situation of the enterprise occurred in the 1980s, with a stagnation, assets losing value and a suspension of investments.

Company's main income is the transport of goods from the Vistula River into local markets in Bydgoszcz, Chełmno, Kwidzyn and Malbork (500,000 tons shipped in 2008).

Furthermore, the company provides the city of Bydgoszcz with services for the operation of the "Bydgosszcz Water Tram" (Polish: Bydgoski Tramwaj Wodny) along the Brda River.