Merchant Marine of Switzerland

[1] Somewhat unusual for a landlocked country, Switzerland has a long tradition of civilian navigation, both on its lakes and rivers, and on the high seas.

[1] The Swiss merchant navy was founded in 1941, with the purpose of supplying Switzerland with basic goods during the Second World War.

[1] As of 2016, its essential mission remains supplying the country with goods in times of crisis.

The first ships were purchased and operated by the government in order to ensure the supply of critical resources during World War II.

After the war, a privately owned merchant fleet emerged, spurred in part by government subsidies that paid for the fleet's operation up until 1953, among them on behalf of the Migros Genossenschaftsbund the cargo ship Adele which was christened by Adele Duttweiler, the wife of Gottlieb Duttweiler, in Hamburg on 15 July 1952; her sister ship Sunamelia was commissioned some months later.