Page 4: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (January 15, 1969)

Caribbean Venture welcomed to New York by tug J.M. McAllister which guided the new ship to its Staten Island pier. First New York/D ominican Republic Roll-On Service Started With MS Caribbean Venture A new roll-on/roll-off cargo service between New York, Jamaica and the Dominican Re-public was started in December. The initial service was inaugurated with the MS Carib-bean Venture operating on a fortnightly schedule. In February, a sistership, the Carib-bean Enterprise, will be delivered and the service increased to weekly. The new and only such service out of New York was inaugurated by Caribbean Trailer Express Line. The vessels used in the opera-tion are owned by Northumbrian Shipping Ltd. of London. Shipcraft Agency, Inc., New York, is acting as general agents for the ships. The Caribbean Venture was specially de-signed for this type of fast turnaround opera-tion. The Venture, as well as the Enterprise, were built by J.J. Sietas Shipyard, Hamburg-Trailer being backed onto the main deck over stern ramp. Elevator is raised to weather deck by operator at right. 6 Neuenfelde, Germany. The Venture was com-pleted late in 1968 and the Enterprise is scheduled for launching this month. The Caribbean Venture is not a large ship. It was designed for this specialized type of operation where a shallow draft is advan-tageous and the amount of cargo available on a weekly basis is not large. However, a fre-quent, scheduled sailing service is important. The type of cargo generated by this service was well represented on the first voyage. Southbound trailers contained general cargo and food products and a few automobiles were carried. Northbound, there were fresh fruits and vegetables from the Dominican Republic and Jamaica and local manufactured goods from Jamaica. About 30 percent of the southbound freight is on a pier-to-pier basis, with the shipping line consolidating the cargo into trailers. Most of the northbound cargo will be pier consoli-dated. However, the operators do anticipate that there will be a substantial amount of railroad piggyback service at its Staten Island, N.Y. pier and have made provisions for han-dling it. With this type of operation, it will be pos-sible to transport heavy-wheeled equipment such as bulldozers, cranes, etc. The capacity of the Venture is 51 forty-foot dry, liquid or refrigerated trailers, or the equivalent in other forms of wheeled vehicles. The ship also has two deep tanks, each capable of holding 180 tons of vegetable oils or chemi-cals. (Continued on page 8) Trailer is unhitched from tractor on the elevator platform. Caribbean Venture prepares to sail on southbound voyage. 6 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News Tractor driver easily maneuvers the trailer for the elevator. Trailer arrives on weather deck for transfer to stowage.