Verolme^®  was founded in 1946 by Cornelis Verolme. In 2016 we will celebrate our 70th anniversary.  Through the years we developed to be a worldwide leading manufacturer of high-end process equipment. The milestones below show the success story Verolme^®  Corporate.

1900

On September 4, 1900, Cornelis Verolme was born in the village of New-Tonge (The Netherlands). He was the seventh son of a farming family. He was trained as a fitter and blacksmith at the technical school in Middelharnis (NL).

1928

In 1928 Verolme started his career at Stork in Hengelo, where he constructed and manufactured marine engines. He built contacts with shipyards at home and abroad. 

1945:

After the Second World War, Verolme was full of plans for a redesign of the company. However, due to disagreements between the management of Stork and Mr. Verolme came to a conflict. Therefore, Mr. Verolme decided to resign and for his own.

1946

In 1946 Cornelis started a new company in Hengelo, Ship Installation "The Netherlands". A year later he moved the company to Rotterdam. The first workshop was a building 18 by10 meters on the Nieuwe Maas at IJsselmonde where he began making installations for ships. Later  also ship engines were built.

1950

Mr. Verolme acquired the shipyard  John Smith Czn. in Alblasserdam (NL) which was originally founded in 1812. The shipyard was called “Verolme Shipyard Alblasserdam” and engaged in the construction of large ships.

1954:

Verolme acquired shipyard “De Haan & Oerlemans” in Heusden on and made it suitable for extremly large ships with a deadweight of 20,000 tons. The largest project was the dredger "The Queen of the Netherlands", officially opened by Queen Beatrix herself. 

1956:

As the first shipyard in the Netherlands, Verolme decided to focus on the construction of mammoth tankers which were very large ships with a deadweight of over 100,000 tons. 

1960

Around 1960 Verolme started to internationalize. His contacts with the Brazilian government in 1959 enabled him to build a new shipyard in the BayJacuacanga near Rio de Janeiro, complete with living quarters for staff. Moreover, Verolme acquired an old yard in Cobh near Cork in Ireland.

The company grew rapidly employed over 12,000 people.  In its heyday Verolme held 80% of the shipbuilding market in the Netherlands. 

1983:

The shipbuilding business of Verolme collapsed through a weak demand and increasing competition through low wages countries. This was the start of two new innovative companies: “Verolme Machinefabriek Ijsselmonde”, a machine manufacturing company, and “Verolme Montage Ijsselmonde”, a construction company.

1987:

Verolme Machine Ijsselmonde was transformed into a professional equipment manufacturer with excellent knowledge of modern welding techniques and exotic materials. Later on the company was split into “Verolme Machinefabriek” and “Verolme Apparatenbouw”, a high-end equipment manufacturer.

2002

“Verolme Machinefabriek” was divested and “Verolme Apparatenbouw” was relaunched by Rob van den Berg, Managing Director of the company. Since then the company’s name is Verolme^® Special Equipment.

2006

Besides the focus on equipment for the oil & gas industry, petrochemical, and chemical industry, Verolme^® Special Equipment starts to focus on manufacturing high-end equipment of the polysilicon industry. Verolme^® is very successfull and well-known by the top polysilicon suppliers.

2009

Verolme^® Special Equipment continues to add value to its customers by working together with reputable multinationals and manufacture high-end equipment for major projects. 
In april 2009 the company moved to its new facilities in Moerdijk.

2011

Verolme^® expands its business and delivers state-of-the-art process equipment for various industries worldwide in more than 30 countries. Moreover, important steps are taken to strengthen our presence in Europe, Latin-America, and Asia.