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.”