Saverys family
The Saverys family is a Belgian shipping dynasty whose business interests have included CMB, Bocimar, Exmar, Euronav, Delphis and related industrial and agribusiness ventures.
Last updated August 31, 2026
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Overview
The Saverys family is a Belgian business family with roots in the country’s shipbuilding and merchant-shipping industries. Its history is connected to the Boel shipyard at Temse on the Scheldt and to the Cigrang family, with whom members of the Saverys family helped establish Bocimar, a dry-bulk tramp-shipping company. The name Bocimar combined elements of Boel, Cigrang and maritime business. Through several generations, the family expanded from ship ownership and shipyard investment into dry bulk, gas transportation, oil tankers, container shipping, maritime services, minerals, sustainable agribusiness and wine production. The family’s modern business history is particularly associated with Philippe Saverys, who continued investing in shipowning companies and shipyards during a period when Belgian government subsidies supported the sector. His children Marc, Nicolas and Virginie became the principal representatives of the third generation in the family’s corporate affairs. Their activities helped establish a diversified maritime portfolio rather than a single operating brand. Marc Saverys entered Bocimar’s chartering department after studying law at the University of Ghent. He later established Exmar’s dry-bulk division in 1985 and became managing director of CMB after a change of control at Exmar in 1991, according to the referenced family biography. He has also been associated with the leadership of Euronav and Delphis and with investments outside shipping. Nicolas Saverys developed Exmar into a specialist owner and operator of oil- and gas-shipping assets and became its chief executive and managing director. Virginie Saverys worked in legal and corporate roles for Bocimar, Exmar and the CMB group, while also developing a separate career in the wine industry through the Avignonesi estate in Tuscany. The next generation broadened the family’s activities further. Alexander Saverys founded Delphis in 2004 as a European container-shipping company. Sebastiaan Saverys developed Durabilis, an agribusiness group focused on sustainable agricultural activity in developing countries, after volunteer work with farmers in Latin America. Other family members have held non-executive positions in shipping companies or pursued professional and philanthropic work. The family has therefore functioned less like a consumer-facing brand than like a controlling family enterprise and network of affiliated companies. Its principal areas of influence have included maritime transportation, ship ownership, chartering, ship management and logistics. Related holdings and directorships have also connected the family to minerals through Sibelco, media through Mediafin, sustainable agriculture through Durabilis and wine through Avignonesi. Corporate control and leadership have changed over time, and the exact status of individual directorships should be checked against current company filings. The Saverys family article identifies the family as controlling or associated with CMB, Bocimar, Delphis, ASL Aviation, Euronav and Exmar, but does not provide a complete current ownership chart.
History
The Saverys family’s commercial history is rooted in the industrial and maritime development of Belgium’s Scheldt region. A foundational connection was the Boel shipyard at Temse, established by Bernard Boel, a carpenter from the Antwerp South shipyard. The Boel family became an important shipbuilding family, and later links between the Boel and Saverys families helped connect shipbuilding, ship ownership and maritime finance. Philippe Saverys, a later member of the family, married a granddaughter of Bernard Boel, creating a family relationship that became important to the subsequent business network. The Saverys and Cigrang families worked together to create Bocimar, a dry-cargo tramp-shipping company. The name reflected the participating interests: Boel, Cigrang and maritime activity. Bocimar provided the family with a platform in dry bulk and chartering, while the broader family network continued to invest in shipping companies and shipyards. The Boelwerf shipyard ultimately became insolvent and closed in 1992, illustrating the industrial pressures affecting Belgian shipbuilding despite earlier public support. Philippe Saverys, born in 1931, continued investing in shipowning companies and shipyards. His three children, Marc, Nicolas and Virginie, became the principal third-generation participants in the family enterprise. Marc studied law at the University of Ghent and joined Bocimar’s chartering department after graduating in 1976. In 1985 he established Exmar’s dry-bulk division. Following a change of control at Exmar in 1991, he became managing director of CMB. His later roles connected him with Euronav, an oil-tanker company incorporated in 2003, and Delphis, a European container-shipping company. Nicolas Saverys studied economics at the University of Ghent and joined the family business in 1980. He played a central role in establishing and expanding Exmar as an oil- and gas-shipping company. His professional activities also included leadership in Belgian and Flemish maritime associations and board-level involvement in shipping organizations. Virginie Saverys studied law in Paris, began in Bocimar’s legal department and established Exmar’s legal department in 1985. She later managed the CMB group’s legal department from 1991 to 2006 and remained associated with CMB and Euronav as a director. Separately, she became owner and chair of the Avignonesi wine estate in Tuscany. The fourth generation extended the family’s reach beyond traditional shipowning. Alexander Saverys, after studying law and business and gaining experience in container brokerage, founded Delphis in 2004. Sebastiaan Saverys began working with farmers during volunteer assignments in Ecuador and Guatemala. Together with Evert Wulfrank, he helped organize the Guatemalan agricultural cooperative COOINCOM, which led to the creation of Durabilis. Durabilis developed sustainable agribusiness activities in Guatemala, Burkina Faso and Peru. In 2009, Sebastiaan also worked with Raul Urbina on Stevia One, a research and development venture concerning sustainable stevia production. Durabilis later made a commitment at the Clinton Global Initiative to support farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. Other members of the family have held non-executive or professional roles. Pauline Saverys became a psychologist and founded Renessence, a nonprofit organization focused on children with eating disorders; she has also been described as a non-executive director of Exmar. Ariane Saverys trained in nautical sciences, worked in ship management and chemical-tanker operations, and later joined Exmar Ship Management, where she began a commercial cruise-vessel division and served as a non-executive Exmar director. Across generations, the family’s model has combined direct corporate leadership, share ownership, board representation and entrepreneurial spin-offs. The resulting network has included dry bulk, gas, tankers, containers, aviation, industrial minerals, media, wine and agribusiness. Because the referenced material is a family biography rather than a current corporate register, individual roles and ownership positions should be verified against the latest company disclosures.
- 2010
Durabilis makes agricultural development pledge
[1]At the Clinton Global Initiative, Durabilis pledged to devote the following five years to supporting farmers in sub-Saharan Africa.
- 2009
Stevia One launched
[1]Sebastiaan Saverys and Raul Urbina launched Stevia One as a research and development venture focused on sustainable stevia production.
- 2004
Delphis founded
[1]Alexander Saverys founded Delphis as a European container-shipping company.
- 2003
Euronav incorporated
[1]Euronav was incorporated as a major oil-tanker operator associated with Marc and Virginie Saverys.
- 1992
Boelwerf closes
[1]The Boelwerf shipyard became bankrupt and ceased operations, ending a major chapter in the shipbuilding history connected to the family.
- 1991
Marc Saverys becomes CMB managing director
[1]Following a change of control at Exmar, Marc Saverys became managing director of CMB.
- 1985
Exmar dry-bulk division established
[1]Marc Saverys established Exmar’s dry-bulk division, while Virginie Saverys established Exmar’s legal department.
- 1976
Marc Saverys joins Bocimar
[1]After graduating in law from the University of Ghent, Marc Saverys joined Bocimar’s chartering department.
Boel shipyard connection established
[1]The family’s historical business network became linked to the Boel shipyard at Temse through marriage and shared participation in Belgian maritime enterprise.
Bocimar formed
[1]The Saverys and Cigrang families helped establish Bocimar, a dry-bulk tramp-shipping company whose name combined Boel, Cigrang and maritime activity.
Products and positioning
A Belgian family-controlled business network rooted in maritime transport and diversified into related industrial, agricultural, wine and media interests.
Dry-bulk shipping
Bocimar
Bocimar is the dry-cargo tramp-shipping business associated with the Saverys and Cigrang families. It represents the family’s early move from shipbuilding and maritime connections into ship ownership, chartering and international bulk transport.
Gas and maritime transportation · 1985
Exmar
Exmar is the family-associated shipping company developed as an owner and operator in oil and gas transportation. Nicolas Saverys is described as having played a central role in creating and expanding the company, while other family members held earlier executive and legal positions.
Oil-tanker shipping · 2003
Euronav
Euronav is a major oil-tanker operator incorporated in 2003 and associated with the Saverys family through board leadership and ownership interests described in the family biography. Its role in the network reflects the family’s expansion from dry bulk into liquid-energy transportation.
Container shipping · 2004
Delphis
Delphis is a European container-shipping company founded by Alexander Saverys in 2004. It broadened the family’s maritime portfolio into container transportation and related liner-shipping activity.
Sustainable agribusiness
Durabilis
Durabilis is an agribusiness group focused on sustainable agricultural development in developing countries. Its activities described in the reference material include projects in Guatemala, Burkina Faso and Peru, including work intended to connect small farmers with markets.
Wine
Avignonesi
Avignonesi is a wine estate in Montepulciano, Tuscany, associated with Virginie Saverys, who is described as its owner and chair. It represents a non-maritime investment within the wider family portfolio.
Marketing campaigns
- 2010Durabilis farmer-support commitment
Sub-Saharan Africa
Durabilis made a commitment at the Clinton Global Initiative to devote five years to supporting farmers in sub-Saharan Africa as part of its sustainable-agribusiness mission.
Outcome. The reference material does not provide a detailed performance assessment or final outcome.
Brand decisions
2004
Creation of DelphisStrategyBackground
The family’s maritime interests already covered dry bulk, gas and tanker activities, but container shipping represented a further area of specialization.
Action taken
Alexander Saverys founded Delphis as a European container-shipping company.
Aftermath
Delphis became part of the family’s broader portfolio of shipping businesses.
1985
Establishment of Exmar’s dry-bulk divisionStrategyBackground
The family’s shipping activities were expanding beyond the existing Bocimar platform and related shipowning interests.
Action taken
Marc Saverys established a dry-bulk division within Exmar.
Aftermath
Exmar subsequently developed into an oil- and gas-shipping business associated particularly with Nicolas Saverys.
- Expansion into sustainable agribusinessStrategy
Background
Sebastiaan Saverys’s volunteer work with farmers in Ecuador and Guatemala identified opportunities to improve market access and agricultural livelihoods.
Action taken
He helped establish agricultural-cooperative activity that led to Durabilis and later participated in the creation of Stevia One.
Aftermath
Durabilis developed projects in Guatemala, Burkina Faso and Peru and made a farmer-support commitment in sub-Saharan Africa.
Sources1 sources
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