First years (1879–1884) On 6 May 1879 ADM was in regular business with the docking of the steamer
Stad Amsterdam. On 20 May 1879 it held its first general shareholders meeting at the offices of the SMN. In the first year, Koninginnedok was not that busy. ADM also acquired a so-called () for smaller vessels, and was able to pay 2.5% dividend. In 1880
Koninginnedok was a bit more busy, and the Vijzeldok also had some business. Dividend over 1880 was 7.925%. SMN then offered 100 of her shares at 110% on 10 May 1881, which were sold. ADM also asked the municipality to buy 7.2 ares more land. In 1881 the dry dock was occupied about 90% of the year, and dividend was 7.99%. Over 1882 dividend was 9%.
Without competition (1884–1897) 1883 and 1884 were good years for ADM, with Koninginnedok being very busy. On 17 October 1884 ADM then bought NMSD, the dry dock company of Von Lindern. In November 1884 ADM asked the municipality of Amsterdam to buy grounds south of
Koninginnedok in order to place a second dry dock. ADM raised 300,000 guilders in bonds to pay for Von Lindern. In 1897 the dividend over 1896 was slightly less at 9%. Meanwhile the small competitor Reederij der Drijvende Droogdokken demolished its
Amsterdam Wooden Drydock II in the Westerdok in 1890, and went downhill till it sold its remaining dry docks in 1902.
High profits and bigger dry docks (1897–1914) In December 1896 the Great Lock of
IJmuiden (then called , now ) was opened. It was 225 m long and 25 m wide. The board of ADM was then authorized by the shareholders to raise a loan for a new, larger dry dock. On 14 May 1899 this dry dock was taken into use as
Wilhelmina-dok later written Wilhelminadok. In the early 20th century dividend remained high. In 1901 the municipality of Amsterdam sold a landward strip of 278.8 mm by 20 m to ADM for 11,152 guilders. In 1902 ADM existed 25 years. It then had 370 permanent staff, and regularly employed about 200 others. The company continued to pay high dividends, and so the share price was at 160% in 1907. In February 1909,
Koningsdok was moved from its old location to a new harbor that had been dug north of
Koninginnedok. These bonds were indeed offered in March 1910. In 1911 there was a general repositioning of the ADM dry docks.
Koningsdok and
Koninginnedok were moored next to each other in a kind of harbor.
Wilhelmina Drydock took the place of
Koninginnedok, and the fourth dock (
Juliana Drydock) would take the place of
Wilhelminadok. On 12 May 1911
Julianadok was launched by NSM. It was 139 m long, and could lift ships of 12,000 tons. It was self-docking, consisting of three parts which could be disconnected to dock each other. Already in 1912 ADM made a plan to lengthen
Julianadok by buying a fourth section. This would lengthen her to 615 feet (187.5 m), and increase her capacity to 16,000 tons. This option had been thought of in the design, and was used because several shipping lines had announced longer ships. In late 1912 ADM had four dry docks, a terrain of 80,000 m2, and workshops of 11,000 m2. Just like Juliandok was to be lengthened, the terrains and workshops would also be expanded. Nevertheless, there were still only 400 shares in ADM, and its open bonds amounted to 860,000 guilders. Therefore ADM offered 200 new shares at 150% on 6 January 1913. Of course with preference for the existing shareholders, at one share for each two a shareholder had. As could be expected, most shareholders used their right of preference, and so there were only a few new shareholders. In January 1913 construction of a boiler factory () started. In July 1913 ADM bought the last 7,300 m2 of open terrain available to expand the shipyard, east of the Valkenweg. This ground would allow ADM to build a 'harbor', and to moor
Wilhelminadok there.
Julianadok would then be the only dry dock moored on the IJ.
World War I World War I was a very good time for the Dutch shipping industry, but this applied especially to shipbuilding. For ADM the first years seemed little different from before the war. However, ADM was not immune to the downturn in the second half of the war.
Interwar period At the start of the
interwar period, Dutch industry was in a good position. By 1920 ADM was reserving money to build a fifth dry dock, which was ordered at NSM on 1 August 1921. This dry dock would be named
Prins Hendrikdok, was 650 by 130 by 56 feet, and would have a lift capacity of 25,000 tons. The boiler factory was also expanded, and a factory for
sheet metal and metal frames was built. The
depression of 1920–1921 hit the Dutch industry somewhat later, but in 1922 ADM fired all loose laborers, and cut wages by 6%. When the new dry dock was taken into use in January 1925, ADM asked for a new terrain. This would be a lease of 116,500 m2 on the Zijkanaal naar Nieuwendam (see 1905 map). The terrain would be used for the new dock and related activities. Meanwhile business was not good, and ADM twice cut wages by 5% in 1925 There was also no dividend over 1925, for the first time in 48 years. When
RDM in Rotterdam had been working overtime, and did pay dividend, there were some questions. In 1926–1929 results were better, even though the dry docks were not always occupied. In 1928 part of
Koningsdok was sent to
Wieringen to serve there. In 1929 utilization was better, but prices for repair continued to be low. When the
Great Depression started in 1929, affairs became worse. Over 1930, 1931 and 1932 there was no dividend. In December 1932 there was a notable job for ADM, when
Prins Hendrikdok lifted the wreck of
MS Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft in order to close all leaks. In 1933 the situation became very worrying. Only 237 ships of 629,974 tons visited the dry docks, and the company made a loss before
depreciation. This was repeated in 1934 and 1935. After the guilder had been devaluated, ADM made an operational profit in 1936, but this was all used for depreciation. Over 1937 ADM resumed dividend at 10%. In June 1938 ADM then offered 600 shares of 1,000 guilders at 117.5% to the regular shareholders. In August 1938 ADM sold
Julianadok to a company from the
Free City of Danzig, whence it was quickly towed. The idea was that this gave additional funds to modernize the other docks, especially
Prins Hendrikdok. Profitable years were 1938 and 1939, but a lot of profit had to be used for depreciations which had not taken place earlier.
World War II Despite the German occupation of the Netherlands in May 1940, the first year of the war were almost business as usual for ADM. In 1940, 1941, 1942 and 1943 ADM made regular profits, and paid nice dividends. After D-Day things changed. In September 1944 the cranes and dry docks of ADM were destroyed. Later, it proved that several dry docks were relatively undamaged, but
Prins Hendrikdok had been utterly ruined by blowing it up with a ship inside. Furthermore, almost all onshore facilities of ADM were heavily damaged.
Post World War II The first years after World War II saw a lot of attention to resurfacing and repairing
Prins Hendrikdok. Nevertheless ADM was already profitable again in 1947. In 1950 the repaired
Prins Hendrikdok was almost continuously occupied, and so ADM returned to paying high dividends. By 1953 the bonanza was over, but the shipping industry was still doing good business. From 1950 till 1965 ADM also built new ships. Because ADM did not have slipways, this was done by building sections. These were assembled in dry dock 2, and then launched by lowering the dry dock. From the fact that this was done in dry dock 2, one can deduce that this pertained to relatively small ships. However, working on new ships when demand for repairs was low, was a very effective way to operate a repair shipyard.
Westhaven In 1958 ADM announced it would construct a second 'shipyard' at a new location in Amsterdam West, called Westhaven. ADM would ask investors for 2,9 million guilders to build it. Construction of the buildings officially started on 23 August 1961. The terrain of 42 hectares was be like a private harbor / dock of 9.5 m depth. A large factory and office were built for 400 employees. A 155 m long pier with two 15t cranes would be used for ships that did not have to be lifted out of the water. For this (Western Harbor Shipyard) a new dry dock 5 was built by ADM itself. This would be 189 m long and 27.40 m wide. The lift capacity would be 18,000 ton, enabling it to lift freighters and tankers of about 25,000 dwt. Profit grew again in 1966. In 1967 business was again good, but productivity did not grow fast enough in respect to increased wages, and so profits decreased. In 1968 and 1969 the generally positive situation in ship repairs continued. In 1970 ADM had a very good year with a 20% increase in turnover. 1971 saw another 25% increase in turnover. In 1972 ADM still had a small profit of 765,000 guilders. In 1973 there was a loss of 324,000 guilders. In 1974 there was again a profit of 2.2 million guilders.
To Ruin (1975–1978) In 1975 there was a sudden catastrophic operational loss of 6.5 million guilders. In 1976 there was again a profit, but also a reorganization plan of 3 million. In 1977 there was another big loss of 9.9 million guilders. That year, staff decreased from 1,337 to 984. As part of the reorganization, ADM decided to concentrate its activities on its first location. It led to the closure of the Westhaven facilities. This indeed led to diminishing losses. In fall 1978, the board of ADM expected to finish the year without further losses. == Amsterdamse Droogdok Maatschappij BV and ADM Beheer (1978) ==