![[Austocean Pty Ltd houseflag and funnel]](../images/a/au~auoc1.gif)
image by Neale Rosanoski, 16 Nov 2008
Last modified: 2023-05-13 by ian macdonald
Keywords: shipping: australia | australian coastal shipping commission | australian national line | australasian united steam navigation co | austocean | cross (blue) | saltire (white) | quartered: saltire (blue-red) | acsc | an |
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March 1985 sighting
image by Neale Rosanoski, 16 Nov 2008
November 1985 sighting
![[Austocean Pty Ltd houseflag and funnel]](../images/a/au~auoc2.gif)
image by Neale Rosanoski, 16 Nov 2008
The two ships involved in the gypsum/sugar cartage for CSR were managed by Austocean Pty Ltd and were under their colours involving a white
flag and an "A" made up of treble lines, the upright ones being blue
and the horizontal ones being purple and having a bit of a curve.
First seen flown by the "Kowalka" in 3/1985 the letter was noted as
taking all of the field but another sighting 11/1985 has it within the field
which is also the version shown by The Log of 8/1985 which indicates
that my first record may have been incorrect unless they were trialing
different versions, the ships only having come into operation in 1984.
Also there is a question over the shade of blue with
The Log giving it
as dark, almost black, whereas my record has it lighter, possibly due
to light, fading through use or just because it looked "average". In
2004 the "Kowulka" changed its livery to that of its registered owner,
Gypsum Resources Australia.
Neale Rosanoski, 16 November 2008
![[Austral Asia Line houseflag and funnel]](../images/a/au~aual.gif)
image by
Neale Rosanoski, 7 March 2010
Austral Asia Line. Can be regarded as an Australian service line in that it
operates out of Brisbane though the originating company itself originally had
its head office in the Netherlands [and it is owned by Cypriot Schoeller
Holdings Ltd. ], the flag as seen flying by the "Cape Evered" in a photo showing
an air sea red/orange rescue field with a blue border at chief and base and
bearing the blue letters "AAL".
Neale Rosanoski, 7 March 2010
![[Australasian Steam Navigation Co. flag]](../images/a/au~asn51.gif)
image by Jonathan Dixon, 5 Aug 2005
According to information
obtained from the Nautical Association of Australia Inc. publication
The Log, the originating company of the Hunter [or Hunter's] River
Steam Navigation Co. liquidated and reformed in 1851 as the
Australasian Steam Navigation Co. with a flag diagonally quartered red
and blue as confirmed by Liverpool Chamber
of Commerce Sheet of 1885, Reed 1891 and Griffin 1895.In 1886 the
company was acquired by British India Steam Navigation Co. Ltd. and
the following year it was amalgamated with the Queensland Steam
Shipping Co. to form the Australasian United Steam Navigation Co. Ltd.
Neale Rosanoski, 30 July 2005
![[Australasian United Steam Navigation Co.]](../images/a/au~ausn.gif)
image by Jonathan Dixon, 25 Apr 2005
The flag of the Australasian United Steam Navigation Company is a white saltire throughout, top and bottom 'quarters' red, hoist and fly blue.
The Hunter's River Steam Navigation Company, started in the early 1840s,
was taken over in 1851 by A.U.S.N., based in Sydney.
Source: http://merchant-navy-ships.com/index.php?id=8,0,0,1,0,0
Jonathan Dixon, 25 April 2005
According to information
obtained from the Nautical Association of Australia Inc. publication
The Log, the originating company of the Hunter [or Hunter's] River
Steam Navigation Co. liquidated and reformed in 1851 as the
Australasian Steam Navigation Co. with a flag diagonally quartered red
and blue as confirmed by Liverpool Chamber
of Commerce Sheet of 1885, Reed 1891 and Griffin 1895. In 1886 the
company was acquired by British India Steam Navigation Co. Ltd. and
the following year it was amalgamated with the Queensland Steam
Shipping Co. to form the Australasian United Steam Navigation Co. Ltd.
The Queensland Steam Shipping Co. had been formed in 1887 by BISN with
its flag being red with a white saltire
which was the BI colours and basic design in reverse. The new flag
thus combined the two. From what I can make out from various comments
the origin of the original companies was aimed against overseas
companies such as BISN being involved in Australian trades. So, they
came in through the back door. AUSN, although continuing to be
involved and regarded as an "Australian" company and although shown as
based in Sydney by Reed 1901, was actually set up in London and was a
British company [Australian Coastal Shipping by Barry Pemberton 1979]
and subsequent sources show this as the head office where as a BI
subsidiary it ended up part of P&O and came to an end with the sale of
its last ships in 1961.
Neale Rosanoski, 30 July 2005
![[Austral-China Navigation Co. Ltd. houseflag and funnel]](../images/a/au~aucn.gif)
image by
Ivan Sache, 1 September 2015
Austral-China Navigation Co. Ltd. of Sydney appearing to have operated briefly
around the end of the 1920s, folding in 1931, with a red flag bearing a white
cross charged at the fesse point with a red star from The Log 8/1989.
Neale Rosanoski, 7 March 2010
From 1926 to 1930, employed two ships in a monthly line from Sydney to Hong Kong
and China, returning via the Philippines and Sandakan.
[The Log 2/86]
Ivan Sache, 1 September 2015
![[Australia Department of Transportation houseflag and funnel]](../images/a/au~audota.gif)
![[Australia Department of Transportation houseflag and funnel]](../images/a/au~audot.gif)
image by Neale Rosanoski,
7 March 2010
The Government of the Commonwealth of Australia Department of Transportation had
what could be classed as a houseflag for use by its lighthouse tenders. There
are two similar versions with The Log of 5/1990 showing blue with a yellow
circle bearing an emblem of 3 black arrows which was said to have been used at
various stages following the building of the lighthouse tenders in 1963/4, and
the version shown by Loughran 1979 with the emblem being blue and narrower and
more obviously recognisable which is said to date from 1972 when the Department
of Transportation was formed by the merger of Civil Aviation and Shipping and
Transport. The emblem is given as representing the three elements of land, sea
and air transport for which the Department was responsible.
Neale Rosanoski, 7 March 2010
![[Australian Coastal Shipping Commission flag]](../images/a/au~acsc.gif)
image by Jarig Bakker, 3 Aug 2004
From the link provided by Barbara Tomlinson of The National Maritime
Museum http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections.html/:
Jarig Bakker, 3 August 2004The house flag of the Australian Coastal Shipping Commission, Melbourne. A flag with a white field bearing a blue cross. The letters 'ACSC' in red appear in the four quarters. The flag is made of a wool and synthetic fibre bunting. It has a cotton hoist and is machine sewn. A rope is attached. This design was in use from 1956 to 1968 when the initials 'ACSC' were replaced by 'ANL' in the first quarter.
The Commission was established by Act of Parliament on 1 October 1956 to take over and manage vessels previously under the control of the Australian Shipping Board. This body had been made responsible for the management of merchant vessels in government ownership as a result of wartime conditions. The registered name of the fleet was the Australian National Line. It extended its operations to Japan and Europe in 1969 and to other countries in the 1970s. In 1974 it became the Australian Shipping Commission and was replaced by the wholly government owned Australian National Line in 1989.
In mid 1969 the flag was
changed with the letters becoming "ANL" in red placed in the canton:
![[ANL flag, 1969-84]](../images/a/au~anl69.gif)
image by
Miles Li, 26 April 2023
Then in 1984, after green and gold had
officially been declared the Australian colours, the flag became white
with a green cross and the gold letters "ANL" in the canton:
![[ANL flag, 1984]](../images/a/au~anl84.gif)
image by
Miles Li, 26 April 2023
However these colours did not stand out and
soon came under reconsideration. There was a report of a version with
a light grey field but this was probably a weathered white and the
real change was to a green field with a gold cross and lettering:
![[Australian National Line flag]](../images/a/au~anl.gif)
image by
Miles Li, 26 April 2023
ANL Ltd., as it became in 1989, was dismantled
by the Australian Government in 1998 with the name rights and overseas
vessels being acquired by what is now CMA CGM Holdings. The name is
still in use by this group as the subsidiaries ANL Container Line Pty.
Ltd. and ANL Singapore Pte. Ltd. using chartered tonnage which still
bear the ANL funnel colours but I have no knowledge of whether the
flag still flies.
Neale Rosanoski, 30 July 2005
![[Australian Offshore Services flag]](../images/a/au~aos.gif)
image by Eugene Ipavec, 23 May 2009
This State Library of Tasmania page shows the house flag of Australian Offshore Services (image is clickable):
Caption: “Medium white Australian Offshore Services flag with a light blue border. In the centre of the flag is a grey anchor.” Rather a silver? cross ending in an anchor’s flukes and sprouting four curves at the top.
Establised at Southbank, Victoria (south of central Melbourne) this company serves the offshore industry. My findings are scanty - there are offices at Darwin (active in towage, salvage, and wreck removal) and Perth (active in petroleum exploration).
It seems AOS, in existence since 1985 at least, were once owned by P&O, the
current owner being Farstad of Norway. In any case the firm was instrumental in
developing a safety code for offshore operations (see Acknowledgments and Introduction from the code).
Jan Mertens, 22 May 2009
![[Australian Offshore Services houseflag and funnel]](../images/a/au~aosa.gif)
image by Neale Rosanoski,
7 March 2010
Australian Offshore Services. A P&O company operating from around 1978 until the
tenders etc were taken over by Farstad Shipping when they became managers and
apparently by 2004 were also taken over by that company. Their flag was white
with a blue border and a blue spouting anchor being shown by
The Log of 5/1994.
Neale Rosanoski,
7 March 2010
![[Australian-Oriental Line Ltd. houseflag and funnel]](../images/a/au~aol.gif)
image by Neale Rosanoski,
7 March 2010
Australian-Oriental Line Ltd. Shown by Lloyds as domiciled Sydney with later
entries also giving Hong Kong and London, its actual country of registration is
unclear. Probably UK though to all intents operating as an Australian company
[where it was deregistered in 1963] it originated 1912 by G.S. Yuill & Co. Pty.
Ltd. and traded until 1961 with a red flag charged with a white cross which bore
a blue star at its fesse point. Sources The Log
7/1974 & 5/1986, Talbot-Booth 1936-1949, Brown 1951-1958 and one variation which
is probably a printers error with Brown 1943 showing a black star.
Neale Rosanoski,
7 March 2010
![[Australian Pacific Shipping Pty. Ltd. houseflag and funnel]](../images/a/au~aps.gif)
image by Neale Rosanoski,
7 March 2010
Australian Pacific Shipping Pty. Ltd. Formed Sydney in 1958 for the shipping of
livestock from West Australia to Philippines but the ship was sold the following
year when the expected trade did not eventuate. As shown by
The Log 5/1993 the
flag comprised horizontal bands of 4 blue and 3 white of differing width with a
white undefined panel bearing the red letters "APS".
Neale Rosanoski, 7 March 2010
![[Australia-South America Line houseflag and funnel]](../images/a/au~ausa.gif)
image by Neale Rosanoski,
7 March 2010
Australia-South America Line. A trade name used by Heine Brothers (Australasia)
Pty. Ltd. of Melbourne in the early 1960s and registered as a trade name in
1969, using chartered ships the flag as shown by The Log of 2/1986 shows blue
with a white diamond and a red " H" with the horizontal arm being 3 offset forms
[angled blocks] in blue outlined white whilst above is a small red " W" with the
letters standing for the then principal of the owners, Walter Heine.
Neale Rosanoski, 7 March 2010
![[Australia-South America Line houseflag and funnel]](../images/a/au~ausaa.gif)
image by António Martins-Tuválkin,
9 April 2016
This varies from a version shown on a lighter [shown in Unidentified Flags &
Ensigns 2008] where the diamond is shown being throughout the flag.
Neale Rosanoski, 7 March 2010
![[Australian Tankships Pty. Ltd houseflag and funnel]](../images/a/au~atpl.gif)
image by Neale Rosanoski,
7 March 2010
Australian Tankships Pty. Ltd. Formed in 1996 and based Sydney, it was taken
over by Teekay Shipping Corporation in 1998 becoming Teekay Shipping (Australia)
Pty. Ltd. For its short existence The Log 2/1997 shows a blue flag with a white
horizontal oval bearing the lower case combined letters "a" [blue] and "t"
[red].
Neale Rosanoski, 7 March 2010
