between Bermuda and Tampa since May, is set to begin exporting industrial goods bound for the Caribbean today.

Today's weekly flight to Tampa is scheduled to carry 5,000 pounds of roofing material, which will then be taken to Miami and put on another flight to the Turks and Caicos.

SKB sales manager Mr. Richard Harris said the company is hoping to fly another 18,000 pounds of roofing to the Bahamas and possibly an additional 15,000 pounds to Miami in August.

The move is a major boost for Bermuda Air Charters, which until now has exported only household goods and some horses to Florida.

Mr. Harris said today's flight will mark the first time that SKB has exported roofing materials, which are manufactured in Bermuda, by air.

He said the company has shipped roofing materials for jobs in Nassau, Eleuthera, Abaco, Virgin Gorda, and Puerto Rico. It is now working on an additional eight quotations for overseas work, including one in Hawaii.

"If we could get an agreement from the Government for a duty drawback, we would definitely be able to provide fast service overseas at reasonable rates,'' Mr. Harris said. He added that exporting by air may be slightly cheaper than shipping material by ship to New Jersey, and paying trucking fees to transport the goods to Miami for further shipment.

Bermuda Air Charters began weekly flights on May 12, exactly one week after British Airways, which had been bringing perishables into Bermuda on a regular basis, stopped its flight to and from Tampa.

The service is already packing up to 50,000 pounds of freight and has significantly increased its volume of customers.

Vice president of operations Mr. William Forbes said yesterday that several customers have ordered perishable goods to be flown in because of the uncertainty on the docks.

He said many had shipped perishables here by refrigerator container, but have been unable to get the containers moved off the docks.

Mr. Forbes said that so far he has not seen an increase in orders since dock workers began picketing over the unresolved Bermuda Forwarders dispute.

Mr. Forbes, who has been in the airline business for more than 20 years, said: "I've been through strikes before. No one expects people here to starve.

"I'm not too worried. I expect people will want to order by air. I expect that orders will still be coming in (this) morning.'' Bermuda Air Charters can carry up to 80,000 pounds of cargo per week on its chartered DC-8.

BACL charters aircraft from Arrow Air Inc. of Miami, Florida, and carries mostly fresh meat, vegetables and fruit to the Island.

Mr. Forbes runs BACL with a second partner in Bermuda, Mr. Brian Foster, and a third partner in Miami, Mr. Dale Niven, president of Bay City Farms in Tampa, which is a major supplier of fresh produce to Bermuda.