# West India Line



## O.M.Bugge

Anybody remember the West India Line boats that was used as Pipe Carriers for some of the earliest Pipe Laying jobs in the North Sea?

The were not actually offshore supply vessels, but Heavy Lift Carriers.
Very basic design, with the Wheel house on Stbd. side Fwrd., Winch House on Port side and a lift bow between them. Crew quarter below deck. The early vessels was 2002 Dwt. and triple screwed.
Company had their office in West Palm Beach, Fl.

I worked them in Japan in 1975 - 77, loading heavy lifts for Saudi Aramco. Don't know what happened to the ships, or the company later.


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## inagua beach

hello I work with west india line at the port of palm beach ,I am still in palm beach with heavy lift service.


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## O.M.Bugge

inagua beach said:


> hello I work with west india line at the port of palm beach ,I am still in palm beach with heavy lift service.


Hello,
Nice to get a reply here eventually. I realize that there is another thread about West India Line Ship here on SN, but I did not know that when posting my first post here.

I was Warranty Surveyor while loading Heavy Lifts for Saudi Aramco on many of WIL's ships all around in Japan back in the 1970s. 
I can not remember names of all the ships used for this job, but Inagua Light and Inagua Beach I believe was two of them.

The Superintendent for WIL was Danish/American who had been living in Japan for many years and had a Japanese wife. He was living in West Palm Beach at the time. His name escapes me.
We traveled together (also with the WIL Agent in Japan) to where ever in Japan the ships were loading. 

He was about to retire and I was asked to join WIL as Superintendent for loading/discharging heavy lifts all over the world. But the condition was that I had to move to West Palm Beach to be part of the planning as well. Since I had a young family living in Singapore at the time, I declined. Otherwise we may have become colleagues.


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