Before the second world war the passengerships Willem Ruys, Sibajak, Slamat, Indrapoera, Insulinde, Patria, were exploited by the Rotterdam Lloyd (Rotterdamsche Lloyd) in a regular service from Holland to and from the Dutch-Indies via Rotterdam-Southhampton-Lissabon-Gibraltar-Tanger Marseille-Port Said Suez-Colombo-Sabang-Belawan-Singapore- Djakarta (Batavia)-Surabaya vv.
During the summer the passengerships Willem Ruys, Sibajak, Slamat, Indrapoera, Insulinde, Patria, Sibajak made cruises to Great Britain, the Northcape and the Mediterranean.
In the second world war the Slamat, Indrapoera and Sibajak were chartered by the British Ministry of War Transport and transported thousands of troops from Australia, New Zealand, the United States of America, India, Africa to and from the battlefields.
After the war the Indrapoera and Sibajak transported the soldiers, ex-prisoners of war from the Burma-road to their home-countries, the Dutch ex-prisoners of war from Indonesia to Holland, Dutch soldiers to and from Indonesia, ex-patriates from Indonesia to Holland, emigrants to Australia and New Zealand and tourists round the world.