In 1855 two young businessmen from Groningen, Johan Herman Wijnne and Barend Cornelis Barends, decided to found their own shipping firm. It was not an unusual initiative.

The future for the Dutch merchant navy looked bright thanks to the country’s neutrality in the Crimean war. Ships sailing under the Dutch flag were making huge profits transporting goods by sea, rivers or canals. The newly founded shipping company handled chartering, storage and transhipment and provided stevedoring services, technical management insurance and agency services.

The new entrepreneurs also took participating interests in a number of coasters and a steamboat called 'Time is money'. The international trade crisis of 1857 presented the first setback for the company. The opening of the Eemskanaal between Groningen and Delfzijl in 1876 however created new opportunities and the company opened a new office in Delfzijl. The company was back on track when disaster struck again on 2 June 1868 and Johan Herman Wijnne died in the first-ever train accident in the Netherlands.

The fact that his fifth and youngest child celebrated her birthday that very same day made his death all the more tragic. Johan’s death meant a heavy blow to the family and company. When in 1870 Barend Cornelis Barends could officially change the name of the company under its Articles of Association, he decided not to. This said something about the lasting respect he had for his former partner.

The Delfzijl office soon became the company’s new head office. The Barends family resided on the top floor. By 1870 all of the ships the company had owned in full or in part had been sold or had had stranded or sunk. It was not until 1952 that Wijnne Barends took a participating interest in a ship again. A lot had happened by then.

Kantoor Groningen Samuel Barends, the son of Barend Cornelis, was only 21 when he took over the management of the Delfzijl office. When his father died in 1891, he also became responsible for the Groningen office. He was 26 years old. Samuel was dedicated to the company and its staff. Under his management Wijnne Barends expanded and firmly established its reputation. In 1891 he appointed his oldest son Barend Zacharias, W.F. Oosterheert and G. Meijer as members of the Board. Together the four men managed to steer the company away from the economic depression of the nineteen thirties. Samuel's death in 1936 hit the company and the firm harder than the crisis ever did.

By 1940 Barend Zacharias was the only remaining Director: W.F. Oosterheert had retired in 1932 and G. Meijer had died just before the start of the Second World War. Barend Zacharias managed to keep the company going through the war. As emigration picked up in the post-war years, the company opened a travel company in Groningen.

Barend Zacharias was also the man who made the company ship owners again. The first ship owned by the company, a 500-ton coaster, was named 'Marie-Christine' in honour of his deceased mother. It was to be his last feat, as he died unexpectedly in 1953. It left the family and firm without their inspiring Captain.

The Board, which comprised only family members, then appointed Niels Barends (Barend Zacharias's third son) and J. Sanders as the new Management Board. The latter had been supervising the Groningen office since 1932, after he had joined the firm in 1919 at the age of 17. The company grew quickly and at its height in 1955 the fleet comprised some 130 ships. To house its staff, the company moved to new premises in Delfzijl. Again, the Barends family moved to the top floor.

In 1972 Wijnne Barends became a private limited company. Its shareholders at the time were all members of the Barends family. The Groningen office had already ceased its shipping activities and traded solely as a travel agency; all shipping activities were bundled in Delfzijl. A year later the Groningen Airport Ground Service was founded. This Wijnne Barends division focused in particular on air transport and luggage handling for chartered and scheduled flights from Groningen Airport Eelde. When Niels Barends died at a fairly young age in 1979, a cousin, Marius Cornelis Nijhoff, and Mr Kuper joined forces to manage the company. Marinus was to be the last in the Barends family to become its Managing Director. Despite the economic downturn, the company continued to invest in new ships throughout the nineteen eighties. Its prime focus remained the same: to offer a flexible fleet of multi-purpose ships that provided stability for the company.

After Kuper and Nijhoff retired in 1990, Mr Toonen, former head of the technical division, took over the company’s management. In 1994 he was succeeded by Mr Makkinje, like Toonen the former head of the technical division. In the nineteen nineties the focus was again on technological innovations in the shipping industry. Wijnne Barends took the opportunity to invest once again in a series of sister ships to establish a flexible position in the market. Groundservice Groningen Airport, its only non-shipping activity was sold off. On the eve of the new millennium the company had outgrown its premises and moved into new and contemporary offices. Wijnne Barends’ head office today is a landmark for all ships entering Delfzijl from the Eems. New investments in the terminal activities are being made to provide large-scale and insulated storage facilities in the outer harbour near the head office.

At the turn of the millennium Wijnne Barends entered into close partnership with Spliethoff Bevrachtingskantoor B.V. (Spliethoff) in Amsterdam. The fleets of the two companies complement each other well: In 2003 the Spliethoff Group became the main shareholder in Wijnne Barends.