Hungarian River and Sea Shipping Company

The Hungarian River and Sea Shipping Company (Magyar Folyam – és Tengerhajózási Részvénytársaság (M.F.T.R.)) (1895 - 1950) was a Hungarian river and ocean shipping company established and sponsored by the Hungarian government which transported cargo along the Danube River. Founded on January 24, 1895, the company was sponsored with capital from the Hungarian General Credit Bank and the Hungarian Clearing and Currency Exchange Bank. The company had a 20-year contract with the Hungarian government which provided it with 400,000 Hungarian Forints annually. The ships of the national rail company (MÁV) were transferred to the M.F.T.R., which also gradually acquired the boats of other small companies. These acquisitions allowed it to emerge as a serious competitor of the DDSG, a major shipping company on the Danube sponsored by the Austrian government. Between 1895 and 1917, the M.F.T.R. transported on average 595,000 passengers and 557,000 tons of goods per year. The company owned 38 passenger boats, 54 cargo steamboats, 389 barges and two tankers in 1918. However, the company was ‘entirely broken’ following Hungary’s defeat in World War I. A serious blow was dealt to shipping companies by the peace treaties, and the Danube treaty signed on June 23, 1921 egregiously curtailed the M.F.T.R.’s ability to conduct business. The economic crisis of the 1930s did not help matters, and led to the M.F.T.R. entering into partnerships with several other shipping companies in order to remain in business. World War II had a favorable effect on the company, allowing it to rebuild and expand its fleet. The M.F.T.R. was dissolved after the war and turned into the Hungarian-Soviet Shipping Company, which was established on March 30, 1946.