In the late 1980s, while visiting one of his containerships in Madras that was on charter to Shipping Corp of India, Joachim von der Heydt found his second calling in subcontinent feedering.
“I liked Madras, I liked the people, so when my husbandry agent there, Mr Vikram, said I should start my own service, I did it. Vikram was the agent for Yang Ming and I had good connections with United States Lines, so that is how Bengal Tiger Line [BTL] began.”
Schoeller Holdings was brought in as an equal partner with von der Heydt’s Transnaval Schiffahrts.
BTL did not get off to a good start. Its first sailing in October 1986, a voyage from Singapore to Calcutta, carried 10 containers of 40-foot equivalent units belonging to United States Lines.
The American liner giant went bankrupt during the voyage and BTL became the reluctant owner of the containers and their cargo, which were later auctioned off.
Nevertheless, BTL soon became a success and von der Heydt’s tenure with the company was to last 33 years and witness the carriage of more than 17 million teus as it expanded into one of the largest feeder operators in the Bay of Bengal.
Legend in Singapore
The company also became a legend in Singapore, having hosted an annual golf tournament for more than 30 years. The BTL Golf Masters is a renowned fixture in the Asian shipping calendar, attended by industry players from around the world.
Schoeller gradually became BTL’s majority shareholder, with an 80% stake. In 2018, it sold BTL to a European private equity fund led by Transport Capital, a Singapore investment firm.
“I had to follow the lead shareholder,” said von der Heydt, who was chairman at the time.
Despite having to let go of BTL reluctantly, he described his time there as another highlight of his 60 years in shipping.
“We were always accompanied by excellent teams in India, in South East Asia, in Singapore and wherever else we acted in the feeder trade. Personally, I can say it was a super-challenging ride.”
