NPRC (The Netherlands)

Nederlandse Particuliere Rijnvaart Centrale

Last modified: 2008-05-03 by jarig bakker
Keywords: nprc |
Links: FOTW homepage | search | disclaimer and copyright | write us | mirrors

• NPRC
• NPRC "new" flag
• NPRC "old" flag

• The Netherlands
• The Netherlands - Index of all pages
• Houseflags of Dutch Shipping Companies
• Houseflags of Shipping Companies

NPRC

As the name says, it is an organization representing Dutch, and also Belgian, private shippers transporting dry bulk goods on inland waterways.
Most information is gleaned from the NPRC website:
“Since its foundation in 1935, NPRC’s primary task has been to look after the interests of its members (and as such, it) enters into long-term transport agreements with mainly larger clients.  Clients often choose NPRC because of its proven ability to offer maximum certainty in transport assignments, chiefly thanks to its large and varied fleet of vessels.  For its members, NPRC offers the advantage of a choice from a variety of cargoes. This saves the barge owner him/herself having to devote time to acquiring cargoes (…).  Every member can take advantage of the structured system giving them a say in rotation for achieving a fair distribution of cargoes.”
"The activities of the NPRC consist of: ship affreightment - special transports - container transport - storage and transfer - mass and bulk transport.”

As shown on the introductory page (I don't count a simplified version on a map of the head office’s new location), the house flag is bright red, vermilion even, with a white descending diagonal bearing the initials ‘NPRC’ in dark blue – it seems to be really blue, not black – and three dark blue silhouettes of a approaching vessel on the upper fly. These silhouettes are shown very large on the home page.

See also this photo of the ‘Vector’ on the Binnenvaart site, where we see the flag in use.
Jan Mertens, 26 Apr 2006

NPRC "new" flag

“Flaggen auf dem Rhein” shows two previous versions on p. 118: the “new flag” differing by having the initials straight up (the font may count as another difference) and no boat shapes in the upper right corner.  The field is decidedly orange but then this should cause no surprise in a Dutch flag of this kind!

The – presumably – first version is called the “old flag”: orange field, tiny national flag in the canton and large black initial ‘C’ in the centre (no serifs).  Most probably the initial stands for ‘Centrale’. I do not know when the second flag was introduced (not long before 1952, the source’s publication date? when the old flag was still in the memory?) nor when the current version was adopted.
The following source offers some data on NPRC’s pioneer period (in Dutch, see p. 7): Founded at the behest of ‘Algemene Rijnschippersbond’ (i.e. General Rhine
Shippers’ Union), ‘Internationale Schippers Vereniging’ (i.e. International Shippers’ Association) and ‘Rooms-Katholieke Hanzebond van Reders en Schippers “Sint Nicolaas”’ (i.e. Roman Catholic Hanseatic Union of >Shipowners and Shippers “Saint Nicholas”) on 18 March 1935, start of activities in May of that year.
Jan Mertens, 8 Sep 2007

NPRC "old" flag