The company was founded under the name of “Mainschiffahrts-Genossenschaft e.G.“ on November 12, 1916 by the merging of 11 independent ship owners. What brought it about was the necessary bundling of transport capacities in order to become accepted as a uniform, qualified, and efficient contractor for the transport orders advertised by the German Reich at that time.
While, in its early years, the company had predominantly been active with vessel transports in the Rhine and Main area, its shipping routes extended throughout Europe in the following years.
Due to subsidiaries and associated companies, the originally pure shipping company - over the course of decades – has developed into a group of companies which offers a wide range of logistic services to its customers today.
Meanwhile, after more than 90 years, the cooperative principle of MSG as a group of independent ship owners has proven a success story also in today’s increasingly international business environment.