Q: One thousand voyages. What does that mean to you personally?

A: It's a sign of accomplishment. We started it all in 1984. There's been a lot of ups and downs in the freight business service over the last years and so we feel it's a great accomplishment after 1,000 voyages that we can celebrate.

Q: How did it all start?

A: There was another Bermuda line prior to us starting. (There were some of us) who felt we needed a second Bermuda line (for the business) to be competitive. And so we contacted several of the importers and were able to put together some 65 shareholders to start the line. And so we started in Jacksonville, in Florida, in 1984. The inaugural voyage was made by the Clifford R. Simmons, on September 19. The vessel's namesake was the late Clifford Simmons, manager of the Meyer Agency freight department. We stayed there until 1985 and then there was an amalgamation of lines and then we started again in 1989 out of Salem, New Jersey, sailing the Bermuda Islander, and we've been running from there ever since.

Q: Importing mainly?

A: Everything. In fact I described us only last week as 'the grocery cart to Bermuda' because everything's imported to Bermuda. And with the service out of the New Jersey area - there's two ships every week - the whole import (business), particularly the supermarkets, have got themselves geared so that they know there's going to be a ship arriving Monday and another one on Thursday. Consequently, with their orders of fresh produce particularly, they depend on us. If there's any disruption you can certainly notice it in the supermarkets. We do have mechanical problems now and then and miss a week - a week will be the maximum because if there's anything serious we charter another ship - and with the supermarkets, the fresh produce, you notice it right away.

Q: When did cargo ships become refrigerated?

A: It started in the late 60s. The great bulk ships had refrigerated units. Three times a year, we used to have a meat ship, which came from New Zealand. So commission merchants would have their refrigerated rooms and they would store meat when the meat ship came in and then gradually sell until three months later when the ship came back from New Zealand - that's how it worked in those days.

Q: What are some of the more modern items you've imported, things that wouldn't have been part of your cargo in 1984?

A: In 1984 I don't think you'd have seen a tower crane around. They're now being referred to as the national bird of Bermuda - the crane (laugh). But we bring in everything from golf balls to swimming pools to mattresses.

Q: Are tower cranes difficult to import?

A: The tower crane, because of the length of it, is probably easier than a lot of things. Imagine when you put a long piece in with containers and so forth, a four by four would take up four container spots. So you bring them in gradually which fits in with the erecting of the crane because they do it a piece at a time.

Q: You mentioned delays earlier, what are some of the difficulties you've encountered?Does bad weather impede arrival?

A: The weather is the most important factor. If the vessel is late, 99 per cent of the time it's due to the weather. I don't think people appreciate that week after week after week these vessels travel between the east coast and Bermuda and can (face) terrible weather. In fact it's known as the worst area in the world as far as storms are concerned. But they come through. They might get in a day late, but it's all due to different weather patterns.

Q: The captains I take it are experts in navigating storms?

A: Our captains on our ships are all Dutch - the officers are all Dutch and there's a Filipino crew. And any person who's made the rank of captain, nine times out of ten from Holland has been in the North Sea and areas like that. So they are quite used to the weather conditions. And the captains are experienced.

Q: Considering there are only two shipping lines that service Bermuda, how big a role do you think BISL has played in the economy?

A: Well we're a central factor in it. I think the economy itself is led by the business that's generated here, namely international companies. I suppose one could (question), with the continued growth that we see around us - condos and office buildings - just how much is too much. Are we going to continue to let any international company in the world be able to come to set up in Bermuda?Because the amount of green space and so forth is being eroded at a tremendous rate.

Q: What do you think of the expressed idea to move the container docks out of Hamilton and the development of a retail/residential area on the waterfront?

A: One of the things I mentioned in a (media interview) last week was the idea of moving the container docks from Hamilton to another area. The very reason that all the containers are discharged in Hamilton is the close proximity to the customers. That, plus the fact that both in Hamilton and St. George's when the piers were developed in the 1600s and 1700s, they were all on the northern side of the harbour - which is the protected area from winds in the wintertime. And so, if and when the container dock is moved, one of the most important elements in it has got to be weather conditions to discharge a ship. With the two ships it's ideal to the proximity of the east coast to run a seven-day service - seven days a week, seven-day turnaround. But if you get any delays, if we have half a day or a day delay, it disrupts the service. And with the weather on North Shore sometimes, you could have a three- or four-day delay, which would really be a handicap. So if the consideration given to moving the container dock, and its reason for being moved is further development, what are you going to do put condos on the container dock*?>* What is in the best interest of Bermuda and the importer, I personally think, is to leave the docks where they are. With the removal of Number Eight Shed a few days ago and the discontinuing of LCL (less than container load) cargo on the dock at the end of the year, this has improved conditions down there. We have a bigger footprint for the containers. With the LCL going, there's less small trucks coming in off the dock which is safer and easier for the property. In the future, the talk has been to take down Number Seven Shed which will make a bigger footprint still, which would make enough space there for the container dock to service Bermuda for many, many years to come.

Q: Do you think that's a view held by the majority?

A: It's certainly a view held by the shipping lines. If it moved, naturally the shipping lines would cooperate with the new port. But on top of that, developing a new port would be a tremendous expense, ultimately which has to be passed onto the importer which we all know (would affect the costs) of groceries in the grocery store.

Q: How difficult was it to establish contacts for shipping?

A: The importers, commission merchants, represent suppliers of Libby's and Hunt's (products) and all different suppliers. They control the ordering of goods in the States and the containerisation and so forth and we just pick the boxes up once they're full.

Q: And then¿?

A: And then they're unloaded. And the other thing, talking about the dock, is about 82 per cent of containers that leave the dock in Hamilton go to importers which are in a two-and-a-half-mile area from the dock. So there's two things to take into consideration: the distance of the container port from its destination and (the fact that) if you moved it to St. George's or NOB, which has been talked about, there would be that amount of more trucks on the road to add to the congestion.

Q: Have you ever travelled with the ship?

A: Actually I think I've been on every type of ship crossing the Atlantic except a square rigger and a container ship.

Q: Who started BISL?

A: Myself, I guess. I was at Meyer at the time. As the head of the agency it was my responsibility to go out and get people interested (in the proposed company). And by word of mouth I might talk to somebody, (first BISL president) Llewellyn Petty, for example, and two or three days later I'd get a call, why don't you go and see so and so because he might be interested - it just built up like that. And it soon got up to a consortium of 65 local individuals and companies.

Q: And it operates as a completely separate entity to the Meyer Group of Companies?

A: Meyer Freight is the local agent for it. Meyer is a shareholder. But the actual line is Bermuda International Shipping Ltd., which we represent.

Q: What was your interest in creating a shipping company?

A: I had intended to go to sea myself but I started working with Meyer in 1951 as a stopgap. At that time it was just so interesting. We used to go offshore on tugs that towed ships in when they ran out of fuel, you had ships going on the rocks, you had all sorts of things happening and so I eventually thought I was having my cake and eating it too in that I was still here in Bermuda and involved in everything that was going on in shipping. Consequently I didn't get off the rock. I stayed here. Over the years the type of shipping has changed drastically. In those days, our busy season was in the wintertime, during the gales that used to go on then regularly. In the winter, you'd get four or five ships towed in when they ran out of fuel. We used to get, probably one a year that'd go on the rocks here. All that sort of stuff has changed drastically but that was why it was so interesting to me then.

Q: What did you do to celebrate the 1000th anniversary?

A: We had a party and invited the importers - our customers basically - and those involved in the shipping business, to celebrate our 1,000th voyage. There were a few speeches.

Q: What's the largest cargo size you've carried to date?

A: There were 181 containers last Thursday. It was the highest number that we'd had coming in.

Q: What do you carry on average?

A: Between 135 to 150.

Q: And your capacity is?

A: About 340. The ship that we have right now, it's 15-and-a-half knots which gives us a good turnaround and speed and it's quite capable of taking more cargo. But if we were to get up to that point, the competition would have had to have gone out of business - which I don't wish on them.

Q: Where forward?

A: I don't think it's our intention this time to go out into (servicing) other parts of the world, something which, over the years, we have considered. But in the end we felt it was just best to concentrate on what we had. We've expanded just in the last six months. We purchased another container terminal adjacent to our existing pier in Salem, New Jersey and in the next two months we will be moving from ours to the bigger terminal, which will give us a more efficient operation at that end.

Q: A regular person, not an importer, needs to have a container shipped. How soon can they get their items?

A: If they call us saying that they have a container in New Jersey, basically if it's on a Monday, they'd have it at the dock on that day - they'd be pretty lucky to catch the Monday ship on such short notice because that's when we sail up there. So if the request is made on a Monday, it'd be the following week. As far as any cargo requirement, if it's containerised it's better than break bulk. It's easier to handle and it's seven-day service.

Q: Advantage over air?

A: Cost. (However) there is more coming in today via planes as far as DHL and (companies like that). But it's not much benefit in going by plane other than if you want it in 24 hours but if you're willing to wait seven days it's much cheaper.

Q: Who are your shareholders today?

A: In forming the line basically we went to the importers - to commission merchants (wholesalers), who bring in mostly groceries and stuff like that, to hardware stores - Ray Baptiste (of Baptiste Builders' Supply Ltd.) was our second president. Llew Petty, our first president, represented the commission merchants - so we went to a cross section of the population with the idea that if you're a shareholder you usually support your business. So the hope that they would ship things in on our ship, that was the main objective I guess at the time, rather than going to a bank or an investment company or things like that which, although they could provide the money - and at that point in time we needed the money - but in the long run it was the importer (who could help).

Q: How did you celebrate the first voyage?

A: I don't think we celebrated our first voyage. We were just concerned to get the service started, and that was it. No, there were no celebrations - probably because we couldn't afford it.

Q: You've had several vessels with the name Bermuda Islander, how have they differed?

A: They have been slightly larger and slightly smaller. It depended on the charter market at the time and the availability of vessels. There's one that we had which was the best one on the market at the time but it was 17 years old. It was suitable for service at that time but once a ship gets up to that old, (you'll find) problems with it so the one we have now is only six years old. The previous one, she only had 14 knots. This one has 15 knots, which gives us more space.