Gypsum Transportation Ltd., an international company which has called the Island its home for more than 40 years, will be adding a new state-of-the-art bulk carrier to its fleet.

The company, which is headed by managing director Roger Farge, spent more than a year researching ships and shipping yards before closing the $37 million deal with the Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Corporation of Ulsan, South Korea.

Mr. Farge said: "It is very gratifying to think that a carrier of this size and sophistication will be flying the Bermuda ensign wherever she trades thus adding a small but significant cachet to the shipping industry in Bermuda and enhancing Bermuda's excellence in international shipping circles.'' Work on the ship is scheduled to start immediately and the new ship makes its maiden voyage in the spring of 2001.

The 645-foot, 50,000-ton carrier will be fitted with the most sophisticated equipment including a self-loading boom which will be able to extend to 250 feet and discharge 3,000 tonnes of gypsum (hydrated form of calcium phosphate used to make plaster of Paris in the building industry) in one hour, a large advancement on the current belt-loading systems.

BUSINESS BUC