William (Bill) Brewer will be remembered for steering Bermuda towards containerisation when few others believed in the system.Mr Brewer recently passed away at the age of 83, but not before guiding the Island into what proved to be a new age of shipping when few people realised its potential.Previously all cargo was unloaded by individual pallets however he persuaded the Bermuda Government and shipping companies to get involved in the new way to transport cargo, before retiring in 1995.“My father was a quiet Bermudian visionary,” said his son Barry. “He revolutionised how goods were brought to Bermuda and helped move Bermuda into the modern era of intermodal transport while enabling Bermudians to own and control their own critical shipping services and connections to the world.“He was instrumental in introducing containerisation to Bermuda, moving the Island into the modern transport era, lowering damage to cargo and import costs and improving safety for dockworkers.“He helped lead the discussion to convince the union and the three stevedoring companies to pool their resources to afford buying the cranes and top loaders that were needed to switch to intermodal container transport.“This was a revolutionary change for Bermuda at the time.”Mr Brewer and others formed the Bermuda Container Line Ltd in 1978 the Island's first locally owned and operated shipping service.Prior to the that, all of Bermuda's shipping services were owned by mostly European companies.It was Mr Brewer's belief that Bermuda had the expertise and the need to own the critical shipping connections that the Island depended upon for virtually all of its imports.He felt that the local importers and related service providers should collectively own the service that they relied upon each week for the delivery of their goods and services and that they should benefit financially through their investment and support of the service.In the 80s, the company invested in a brand new custom built container ship, CMV Oleander which also featured roll-on and roll-off capabilities for cars, boats and construction equipment, also the first of its day.He was also the director of golf at Riddell's Bay Golf Club and introduced one of Bermuda's first ever town house complexes with the redevelopment of the Pomander Gate Tennis Club.In his early years, Mr Brewer was considered one of Bermuda's top athletes; as head boy at Canada's Trinity College School he set and held several athletic records for sports and captained cricket, soccer and squash teams.He also played football and other sports for the University of Toronto, before representing Bermuda in tennis in Havana, Cuba with other members of the Bermuda tennis team when the Cuban revolution broke out.They were eventually “rescued” by a flight organised by Bacardi Ltd.He spent much of his retirement helping at The Barn with his wife Jackie. He is also survived by sons Jeff and Tim Brewer.A private memorial service has been planned for November 11.