with the world.

The company is preparing for its 1,000th voyage to Bermuda, giving The Royal Gazette an opportunity, in this special supplement, to look at the history of the company, its people and its service.

BCL operates a weekly service between Port Elizabeth, New Jersey and Hamilton, Bermuda with the vessel MV Oleander , which might be described as a lifeline for Bermudians, since the Oleander brings in almost everything the island consumes.

The issue was addressed in BCL's 1994 annual report: "In addition to the vital necessities to feed, clothe and house Bermudians, residents and visitors, the Oleander brings to Bermuda all those items which help to make life on this island more enjoyable. Just a small sampling of these items would include toys, furniture, household appliances, lumber, tools, wine, animal feed and animals themselves.'' 1994 was the year in which Geoffrey Frith was appointed president of Container Ship Management and Robert (Skippy) Lewis was appointed senior vice president.

The two men, who continue to serve in those positions, are the senior executives of the line's Bermuda agents, Container Ship Management Ltd. (CSM).

Mr. Frith and Mr. Lewis took the reins from two long-serving managers who left the company that year, William Brewer and Bert Outerbridge. Mr. Brewer is profiled elsewhere in this supplement.

Through an associated company, Somers Isles Shipping Ltd., BCL also operates a three-times-monthly service between Fernadina Beach, Florida and Hamilton.

BCL maintains a wide-ranging network of agents throughout North America to allow it to provide full container-load intermodal services between Bermuda and all key centres on the North American continent. Through connecting carrier arrangements with a number of major shipping lines, BCL connects Bermuda with the rest of the world.

BCL is managed by Container Ship Management Ltd. who are also the Bermudian agents for the line. The North American General Agents for BCL are Bermuda Agencies Ltd. (BAL), a US general agency wholly owned by BCL.

BAL is itself celebrating its 15th year as the 1000th Oleander voyage takes place.

All the senior staff at BAL have been with the company since its inception in 1984. They have a wide range of knowledge about the Bermuda trade and customers.

Bermuda Container Line Ltd. has been in operation, and providing its weekly service from Port Elizabeth, since 1979 and is a publicly held company listed on the Bermuda Stock Exchange, trading under the symbol BCL.

The company has approximately 480 shareholders and a Board of Directors numbering 13.

BCL's ship, the Oleander , is the third vessel serving Bermuda to carry that name. She was built in 1990 in Holland to the line's own specification. It is a combination container and roll-on/roll-off vessel, capable of carrying 360 container units, as well as 44 cars in an enclosed garage area.

The Oleander has electrical plugs and generating capacity to allow it to carry 88 refrigerated containers. The enclosed garage area has hoistable car decks which allow it to carry large roll-on/roll-off cargo in the enclosed area and on deck in front of the vessel's superstructure.

To handle the diverse cargo bound for Bermuda, BCL maintains a wide-ranging fleet of cargo handling equipment.

The standard dry containers, with which the public is familiar, are only the tip of the iceberg. BCL maintains a large fleet of temperature-controlled, refrigerated containers; flat-rack containers, for the shipment of such items as lumber or PVC pipe; bulk and tank containers; open-top containers for extra-high cargo; and mafis, which are special rolling stock. Mafis allow BCL to handle large objects with comparative ease.

From time to time, BCL has containers made to special order; in 1994, for example, a container was ordered which could properly handle horses.

The BCL service from Port Elizabeth to Bermuda is the fastest and most efficient shipping service available to the Island. It departs from Port Elizabeth early on Friday evenings and arrives in Bermuda late Sunday afternoon for discharge of cargo on Sunday evening. Importers start picking up their cargo at 6 a.m. on Mondays.

The new and the old: The new Oleander (left) follows the old Oleander , renamed the Hibiscus (right), out of Hamilton Harbour. The two ships have combined for 1,000 voyages between the US East Coast and Bermuda under the Bermuda Container Line colours.

Ready to go: The new MV Oleander makes her way out of the Van der Giessen-de Noord shipyard in Holland after being launched in September, 1990. The $14.5 million, 386-foot ship became the largest and most modern ship on the New York-Bermuda run.

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