From 1870 to 1970, the Dutch shipping line known as the Stoomvaart Maatschappij Nederland (SMN), also known as the Netherland Line or Nederland Line, merged with several other businesses to form Royal Nedlloyd.
On May 13, 1870, the SMN was established in Amsterdam to facilitate trade via the newly constructed Suez Canal between North Western Europe and the former Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia). On April 25, 1859, the Suez Canal's construction began. The construction of a suitable canal would render sailing ships obsolete on the route to the East Indies, as would the development of steam engines that used less coal (the compound engine). Obviously, many people were waiting for the canal to be finished, but when it was getting close to being finished in 1869, it became clear that something had to be done.