It was the largest cargo carrier between European and African ports, and Europe's oldest extant shipping line.

The company operated a fleet of 49 vessels with a collective capacity of 63,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU),[1] on 15 routes between Europe, Africa and the Indian Ocean.

[2] The first Delmas shipyard opened in 1922 and international shipping began in 1925 with imports of mahogany from the African state of Gabon for use in boxes for storage of butter and cheese.

[2] After World War II the company relocated to Le Havre and began to specialise in Africa-European trade.

It was acquired by the Bolloré Group in a hostile takeover in 1996, but a series of restructures led to a loss of market share and the sacking of 140 staff.