Emmetje was the name of the first owner’s daughter. The same name was given to the ship he had built. For a long time, the “Emmetje” was a so-called “turn-engine”: the ship ran a turn-engine service between Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel and Rotterdam, transporting all kinds of goods. Actually, you can consider such a turntable engine a bit like the forerunner of the van, but on water!

In 1943, the ship was given the name it still has: ‘Maria B.’ It then entered service with the Fix Motor Service company, which used it to supply large ocean-going vessels from the Schiemond. The “Maria B.” would keep up that work for a long time: she remained in service professionally until no less than 2011. That’s a working life of no less than 89 years!