!!!Donau-Dampfschiffahrts-Gesellschaft, Erste, DDSG

Donau-Dampfschiffahrts-Gesellschaft, Erste, DDSG (First Danube 
Steamship Company), founded 1829, navigated the River Danube and its 
tributaries, in 1834 also took up marine navigation 
(Trieste-Constantinople as first steamer line in the 
Mediterranean). Before World War I it maintained one of the 
largest inland fleets in Europe (1914: 142 steamers, 860 tugboats with 
a tonnage of 470,000 t) and even after 1918 remained the leading 
shipping enterprise on the River Danube (1937: 22 passenger steamers, 
25 tug and freight steamers, 394 tugboats, 29 oil tankers). The number 
of ships was drastically reduced during World War II. During the 
occupation 1945-1955 the DDSG, which was designated German property, 
was put under Soviet administration; it was returned to Austrian 
ownership as a state-run enterprise under the State Treaty of 1955 
(against financial redemption). In 1991 the DDSG was split into the 
DDSG-Cargo GmbH (freight) and the DDSG-Donaureisen GmbH (passenger 
transport). In 1993 the German Stinnes AG bought DDSG-Cargo, which was 
sold to the German group Gerhard Meier in 1997. In 1997 DDSG-Cargo 
GmbH commanded a fleet with a total tonnage of 175,000 t and 
employed approx. 150 people. In 1995 the DDSG-Donaureisen discontinued 
the passenger transport service.

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In the same year the Oesterreichisches Verkehrsbuero tourist office 
and the Port of Vienna established the firm DDSG-Blue Danube 
Schiffahrt GmbH, which has 5 ships for excursion trips between Vienna 
and the Wachau region. The state-owned enterprise DDSG retained 
landing rights at approx. 50 landing-stages, for whose use a charge is 
levied.  Danube Shipping,  Danube Ports.


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