Bermuda Container Line, which owns and operates the Oleander, has seen profits soar by nearly 70 percent for the first six months of the year - but said that the immediate outlook for the company was very cloudy after the attacks on the US.

The ocean freight service operators said the hike in profits from $1.4 million for the first six months of 2000 to $2.3 million for the same period this year, was due to increase in the volume of cargo and a reduction of expenses.

Net earnings per share rose from 45cents to 77 cents, and the dividend per share rose from 16 cents to 17 cents a share.

In an interim report for the six months ended June 30, 2001, the company said: "The improved earnings were due to an increase in cargo volume and freight revenue coupled with reductions in certain key expense categories."

Consolidated revenues were up from $13.4 million to $14.5 million - $1,057,000 or seven percent due to significant cargo volume increases experienced by both BCL and SISL services.

The company said that the increased cargo volume was primarily driven by the construction industry and the outfitting of new office.

But the company said that the rate of volume growth has slowed substantially in both the second and third quarters of the year.

The release added: "In addition the terrible events on Tuesday 11 September have made the immediate outlook very cloudy."

Net fuel expenses fell for both BCL and Somers Isles Shipping Ltd, its sister company, due to the impact of the fuel surcharge implemented in the middle of 2000.

BCL also reduced US stevedoring costs due to a new stevedoring agreement, and they said part of these cost savings were passed on to customers in a freight rate reduction in September 2000.

Smaller savings were also achieved in some other expense categories, the company said. Expenses rose marginally from $12,082,223 to $12,198,758.

At the end of their last financial year, BCL said it was to replace the Oleander container ship within the next five or six years and that Somers Isles Shipping Ltd will lease replacement for the Somers Isles next January.

Last year the company saw profits fall by 3.5 percent year over year to $3,008,00.

The company said that the company carried eight percent less cargo in 2000 than in 1999, which was attributed to a reduction in heavy construction material as well as a reduction in the number of cars brought in.

The company also put aside $5 million of retained earnings last year to build a new ship to replace the Oleander.

The Oleander, which runs between New Jersey, Port Elizabeth and Bermuda each week, was built in 1990 and is expected to have another eight to ten years in her.

The average load for the ship includes 170 containers, 20 cares and recently ten road trailers carrying structural steel and reinforced concrete for the National Sports Centre.

But the company wants to sell her before she nears the end of her operational life and said it should get a reasonable price for her.

A replacement for the Somers Isles is currently being built in Holland and will be leased from JR Shipping and will continue the three-times a month between Fernandina Beach, Florida and Hamilton. The company said that the struggling Euro at the time made the deal favourable.