Lai See | How containers made the world smaller and its economy bigger

A significant but little known date was marked in Hong Kong recently - the 45th anniversary of the first scheduled container service between Hong Kong and the west coast of the US.

The service was operated by Sea-Land and the first vessel, the 16,395-ton San Juan, arrived at Ocean Terminal on the evening of July 30, 1969, and departed 15 hours later loaded with 150 containers.

It's a far cry from the mammoth loads of today but it wasn't until 1972 to 1973 that the first three purpose-built container terminals at Kwai Chung came into operation.

About 50 former Sea-Land employees, some from abroad, turned up for a dinner at the Maritime Museum organised by Alan Goldstein, who was Sea-Land's chief engineer for Asia.

Explaining why the reunions were held, Goldstein told Lai See that in the pioneering years of the 1960s and 1970s, strong bonds were formed within the company. "People living away from home, family and friends socialised together, became friends. It was like a family - you looked out for each other," he recalled.

As for the locally hired staff, "they were young, bright people and this in many cases was their first job, but they were given a lot of responsibility, particularly as the expatriates couldn't speak Cantonese," Goldstein said.