In the branch of contractual mail shipping between Dutch India, i.e. today’s Indonesia, and the Dutch islands there, this Dutch shipping company appeared in 1902. It disappeared in 1977.
Its predecessor, “Koninklijke Paketvaart Maatschappij” (KPM), had taken over the steamship mail service back in 1888. However, when the Dutch consul demanded that a line from Java via East Asia to North America be established, KPM could not fulfill this demand.
So they merged with other lines, founding the Java-China-Japan line (JCJCL) in 1902. Three steamers operated for this line. One of them was the “Tjipanas”. The line divided into two lines, one going from Java to China, and the other one going from Java to Japan, in 1907.
The lines mainly transported steerage passengers. The steamer “Tjitaroem” belonged to the new “Java Hong Kong Lijn”. Postcard enthusiasts admire, collect, and buy pictures of these old steamers on historical postcards.
The company broadened its services in the First World War, founding the “Java Pacific Line” to America’s west coast ports in 1915. After the Great Depression, the shipping company had been incurring losses for years on end before it merged with KPM in 1947. After Indonesia had become independent, the company lost all lines in that region in 1957. It became part of Nedloyd Lijnen in 1969. The name JCJL disappeared in 1977.