Bell Lines

Bell Lines Limited was an Irish / Dutch liner shipping company and a container terminal operator. The company was one of the pioneers of container shipping in Europe.

details

The Bell Lines Terminal in Teesport

The Waterford- based company had its roots in the Dublin-based freight forwarding and shipping company George Bell & Company Ltd., which was founded on August 28, 1936.

On April 10, 1961, Bell Lines was founded in Dublin and from 1962 (other source: 1964) Bell maintained a liner service for palletized and non-standardized, containerized cargo from Waterford to the Mersey in cooperation with the Glasgow shipping company Clyde Shipping Company . In 1963 another service between Dublin and Preston was set up in cooperation with the Atlantic Steam Navigation Company from Preston. In 1964, George Bell opened a container terminal called Bellport in Newport am Usk . In the same year, George Bell & Company, the Clyde Shipping Company and the Atlantic Steam Navigation Company formed the Waterford Consortium to operate a container feeder service between Preston and Waterford - one of the first short-haul container liner services in Europe. The share of the Clyde Shipping Company was taken over by George Bell in 1974. In 1966, George Bell opened another container service between Waterford and Rotterdam as Bell Line . The first ships used here, the Bell Vanguard and Bell Valiant , were chartered with German shipping companies (the Bell Vanguard was the first German container ship ever). Container handling initially took place at Frank Cassin Wharf in Waterford and at Brittanniëhaven in Rotterdam. Later the Belview Container Terminal in Waterford was built and operated by Bell Lines. From 1967 a container service was added between Middlesbrough and Rotterdam.

The Jan Kahrs , one of the Bell Lines charter ships

Bell built further lines between the continent, Ireland and the United Kingdom until the 1970s and 1980s, and in the late 1970s had a larger series of its own ships built at the Japanese shipyard Kagoshima Dock & Iron Works in Kagoshima . A total of around 60 owned and chartered ships were mainly feeder vessels including the world's first powered, open-top container ships Bell Pioneer and its sister ship Euro Power .

In 1986 the Rotterdam port service provider HES Beheer acquired all the shares in Bell Lines, but left the company under its own management. In the course of focusing on its main business area, bulk handling, HES Beheer sold Bell Lines again at the end of 1993.

The Novitas-H , ex Bell Ady

After Bell had operated a terminal in Brittanniëhaven for almost three decades, the company began building a new container port called the Short Sea Center / Mertens Terminal in Eemhaven , Rotterdam , in March 1995, which went into operation a good year later. In 1995/96, Bell Lines took over three newbuildings of the Elbe shipyard EWB 340 from the Elbe shipyard Boizenburg with the sister ships Bell Ady , Bell Astron and Bell Atlas .

In 1996, during bad weather, there was severe damage due to unsecured container cranes in Waterford, the processing of which overstrained the company's capital base. Bell Lines also complained about cargo losses due to the Eurotunnel, which opened in 1994 . In February and July 1997, the House of Commons of the Irish Parliament dealt with the company's financial problems. In June 1997, Bell Lines attempted to reorganize and requested a deferment of payments. At this point in time, the Irish Continental Group (ICG), one of the main shareholders, was interested in buying. From July 22, 1997, the Mertens Terminal became the Rotterteam Short Sea Terminal (RST) owned by European Combined Terminal (ECT, 33.3%) and the Deka Group (Steinweg Handelsveem and Lehnkering Montan Nederland, 66.6%) continued. In August it became clear that the Bell Lines company could no longer be saved as such and the company was dissolved.

The ships (selection)

Bell Lines ships
Building name	Shipyard / construction number	IMO number	delivery	Client	Period of service at Bell Lines	Renaming and whereabouts
Bell Vanguard	Sietas / 588	6611772	1966	Jürgen Heinrich Breuer, Hamburg	1966-1977	1978 Fall wind , sunk on March 5, 1988
Bell Concord	G. & H. Bodewes / 400	5017632	1953	Wansbeck Shipping Co. (Anthony & Bainbridge), Newcastle	1967-1969	Wansbeck , 1961 Anglobel , 1967 Bell Concord , 1969 Concord , 1970 Blue Calypso , 1973 Ikarian Sea , 1979 Georgios H , 1985 Agios Makarios , 1989 Fatima , 1997 Kamar , 1999 Maya , 2002 Dou Dou , 2003 deleted from the register.
Anke	597 / Sietas	6708678	1967	Jonny Winter, Hamburg	1967-1977	Delivered as Bell Venture , 1977 Linde , 1993 Stephanie , 1995 Ocean Eagle I , 1995 Sea Eagle , 1996 Viking Trader , 1998 Optimist , 1999 Princess L , 2000 Le Printemps , 2004 Precision Express , deleted from the register in 2012.
Bernd Becker	Sietas / 609	6711778	1967	Arnold Becker, Jork	1967-1977	delivered as Bell Valiant , 1977 Bernd Becker , 1983 cormorant , on December 8, 1986 at position 52.15 ° N; 002.30 ° E caught fire and in 1987 scrapped at Kerkhove Holland in Zwijndrecht.
Jonny Ritscher	Sietas / 596	6805165	1967	Gerd Ritscher, Mooregge	1967-1977	Delivered as Bell Victor , 1977 Jonny Ritscher , 1982 Jonny H , 1985 Gritt Clipper , 1986 Fokion , 1987 Cavalier Clipper , 1994 Arawak Clipper , 1998 Pioneer Star , 2005 Pioneer Star I , 2010 Bryan Joseph I , 2014 Niky , so in motion.
Bell vision	- / -	7002473	-	-	1969-1971	-
Bell Combat	- / -	5313048	-	-	1969	-
Bell Vigilant	- / -	7017442	-	-	1970-1988	-
Bell Vigor	Roland shipyard / -	7027758	-	-	1970-1988	as Reina del Parana on the move
Bell Crusader	- / -	5114600	-	-	1971-1976	-
Bell Cavalier	Scheepswerf Hoogezand / 152	6918951	1969	Mare Schiffahrtkontor (Horst Zeppenfeldt), Vienna	1973/74 and 1975–1978	1969 Valdes , 1973 Bell Cavalier , 1974 Valdes , 1975 Bell Cavalier , 1978 Minitrans , 1986 Aasland , 2005 Red Duchess
Birte Ritscher	Sietas / 698	7324871	07/14/1973	Gerd Ritscher, end of the moor	1973-1979	delivered as Bell Voyager
Gertrud Bos	Korneuburg shipyard	7028453	1970	-	1974/75	1973 Zepforwarder , 1974 Bell Champion , 1975 Zep Forwarder , 1975 Coueron , 1981 Mistelle , 1983 Miss Annie , 1986 Miss Elly , 1986 Hafra , 1992 Nour Allah , 1993 Feeder B. , 1997 Feeder Trader , 2000 Blue Feeder , 2004 Mia , on 7 Lost October 2013.
Bell Chieftain	- / -	7035432	-	-	1974/75	-
Bell Vantage	- / -	7361661	-	-	1974-1988	most recently as Gloria T in motion
Bell Rover	Kagoshima Dock / -	7613430	1976	Bell Lines	1976-1993	most recently as Hai De Li in motion
Bell Ranger	Kagoshima Dock / -	7613442	1976	Bell Lines	1976-1996	1982 extended by twelve meters at the Elsflether shipyard , 1996 Als , 1996 Perma Glory , 2003 Iran Glory , 2004 Mataf Star , 2013 Moshref , so in service.
Bell racer	Kagoshima Dock / -	7613428	1977	Bell Lines	1977-1997	-
Bell Raider	Kagoshima Dock / -	7709356	1977	Bell Lines	1977-1988	-
Bell Rebel	Kagoshima Dock / -	7709368	1977	Bell Lines	1977-1988	-
Bell Ruler	Kagoshima Dock / -	7613454	1977	Bell Lines	1977-1997	1997 Blue Sky 2 , 2003 Hai Xiang Tong
Bell Variant	Sietas / 799	7615036	1977	Shipping company Dede	1977/78	1977 Jörn Dede , 1977 Bell Variant , 1978 Jörn Dede , 1983 Akak Progress , 1986 Jörn Dede , 1995 Baltic Courier , 2004 Baltic Carrier , 2007 Majeda , 2010 JSM , traveling as Anwar-A
Bell Reliant	Kagoshima Dock / -	7709409	1978	Bell Lines	1978-1991	1991 Erizo
Bell Renown	Kagoshima Dock / -	7709382	1978	Bell Lines	1978-1991	1991 Ola
Bell Resolve	Kagoshima Dock / -	7709394	1978	Bell Lines	1978-1993	most recently as Ocean Win in drive
Bell rival	Kagoshima Dock / -	7709370	1978	Bell Lines	1978-1982	-
Bell Pioneer	Teraoka / 288	8907668	1990	Bell Lines	1990-1997	1997 Ultra Contship , 1998 Ashdod Express , 1998 MF Ranger , 2000 Ultra Container , 2001 ZIM Novorossiysk I , 2001 Ultra Container , 2002 Nile Express , 2003 Ultra Container , 2003 Med Power , 2004 Ultra Container , 2004 Alcione , 2009 Egy Group , 2014 in Aliağa scrapped.
Bell Swift	Sietas / -	7508271	1976	-	1991-1997	1976 Jan , 1987 Arfell , 1990 Jan , 1991 Bell Swift , 1997 Swift , 2002 Line
Ady	Elbe shipyard Boizenburg / 225	9107382	02/28/1995	Hermann Schepers, Haren / Ems	1995-1997	1997 Ady , 2003 Novitas-H , as Pl Hau Lam in motion
Thea B	Elbe shipyard Boizenburg / 226	9107394	06/30/1995	Tesch ship management, Haren / Ems	1996/97	Keeled as Thea B , extended before completion, Thea B in 1997 , Thea II in 2013 , so underway.
Bell Atlas	Elbe shipyard Boizenburg / 229	9110559	03/28/1996	Vogt & Maguire, London	1996/97	as Marus on the move
Data: Equasis, large tonnage

literature

Eckhard-Herbert Arndt: Bell had to give up sails . In: Shipping International . Vol. 48, No. 9 . Hansa , Hamburg September 1997, p. 11 .
Mike Macdonald: Irish Sea Shipping in: Ships monthly No. 10, Vol. 31, October 1996, pp. 33-37
Register of Ships , Lloyd's Register, London, various years from 1967