Bermuda Container Line Ltd. (BCL) has bought a newly constructed port facility in Salem, New Jersey for an undisclosed sum. However, the company's plan to move operations from nearby Port Elizabeth has been delayed because of a legal battle with US longshoremen.

BCL's president Geoffrey Frith was off the Island and was unavailable for comment.

The local freight carrier's management has said previously that unless it is allowed to move to the less expensive port facility at Salem, the company could succumb to fierce competition on the New York to Bermuda run.

The company reported a profit increase of about 23 percent, or $171,000, to $925,053 in the first six months of 1997 compared to the same period last year.

Gross revenues increased by four percent, or $422,000, to $11.3 million.

Expenses increased by 2.5 percent to $10.4 million in the first six months compared to the same period last year.

BCL operates the MV Oleander freighter service from Port Elizabeth to Bermuda.

The company owns 50 percent of Somers Isles Shipping Ltd. (SISL), which operates a freighter service from Florida to Bermuda.

"The growth in revenue was due to slightly higher volumes of cargo carried by both the BCL service from New Jersey and the SISL service from Florida, better freight rates earned on trans-shipment cargo and higher interest earnings,'' an interm report to shareholders stated.

The company managed to improve expenses compared to the previous year except for the cost of equipment and inland cargo handling.

"The directors and management are well aware of the need to control and, where possible, to reduce costs,'' the report stated. "Unfortunately, in a number of cases control is not in our hands. Fuel prices are substantially higher...than just two years ago. The additional fuel cost per revenue container in the first six months of 1997 is $25 (higher) compared to the same period in 1995.

BCL reported that a US court had granted a hearing regarding the company's dispute with US port workers in Port Elizabeth. So far the International Longshoremen's Association has blocked BCL's attempt to move to Salem where the union is not represented.

The association claims BCL is bound under contract to only work from ports where its members are represented, a claim upheld by a Port of New York local industry committee in 1996.

The committee stated BCL would be in breach of contract and would be subject to damages of $600,000 per voyage if it moved to Salem. In response BCL filed a suit against the association and the New York Shipping Association, an employers' organisation.

The company then filed a motion to have a judgment whithout trial. The motion for a hearing has been granted, although no date has been set yet. Meanwhile, BCL has gone ahead an purchased the Salem terminal facility using its own cash.

"The terminal facility is presently generating third party revenue and the company is actively pursuing other third party business,'' the interm report states.

BUSINESS BUC