To supply ships calling at Pointe Noire, two brothers, Michel and Henri Daron founded the Société d’Avitaillement Maritime of the Congo (SAM Congo) within the port area. Main customers at the time were European fleets of tuna fishermen, cargo ships and French navy vessels.

Michel and Henri founded a ship chandling firm, SAM Daron, at the Port of Bordeaux. The needs of the African sister companies and the decline in port activities brought about the gearing of the firm towards export purchasing. Over time, this office has become an essential part of our African entities’ supply chain, and it is the guarantor of the group’s quality and consistency. Now called Daron Food Trading, its skills are recognized and relied upon by many wholesalers and retailers on several continents.

SAM Gabon is created in Port Gentil to service the Gabonese market, offering ship chandling services to customers operating in the Gulf of Guinea. Operating on the same business model as its sister company in Pointe Noire, it offered a continuity of services on the coast and the possibility for our customers to access a well-known and tested product range.

Raft sales and maintenance activities started up. To meet their customers’ growing demand, the SAMs Congo and Gabon offices began offering services in 1992 linked to seafaring safety – notably the sale, repair and recertification of lifeboats and other safety equipment.

Tristan starts in South Africa as a Procurement Solution house for the Group and other industrial clients on the continent. Ship chandling services are gradually provided upon request to group clients, and from there, expanded to meet the rising demand of other African customers.

Capcimbo is created in Luanda to service a growing Angolan market.

Capemba (our Mozambican subsidiary) opens its doors in Pemba. Developing the strength of our extensive network and broadening our African footprint has always been part of our vision.

To meet the growing demands of its customers, SAM Congo, SAM Gabon, and Olex committed themselves to ISO 9001 certification.

SAM Daron Angola founded. SAM Angola is the newest player on our team completing the Daron Group in the region with facilities in Luanda and a partnership with Capcimbo.

Daron Group firms up its presence in Walvis Bay Namibia by investing in Walvis Bay Ship Chandler – a renowned ship chandler on the Namibian coast. By integrating WBSC into the group, we have created the only seamless ship chandling service between Port Gentil, Gabon and Pemba, Mozambique.