Center’s focus on container shipping history

CenterÆs focus on container shipping history    A new center focusing on the history of container shipping has kicked off a campaign to collect artifacts, historical data and documents for a public museum and research center.
   The McLean Container Center at Kings Point will be based at the American Maritime Museum and Bland Library at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, N.Y.
   The center is named for the container shipping pioneer Malcom McLean, who began a container service in 1956 between Newark, New Jersey and Houston and later headed both Sea-Land Service and United States Lines.
   'The story of the container industry is a spectacular one,' said Paul F. Richardson, a former Sea-Land president and maritime consultant who serves as the center's chairman. 'But for all the immense benefits it has brought to the world, it's still less understood than it should be.'
   'With the possible exception of the Internet, nothing can touch containerization for the change it produced in the world during the last century,' said Helen Delich Bentley, a former U.S. Congresswoman and Chairman of Federal Maritime Commission who serves on the centers board of directors.
   In addition to Richardson, other officers of the center are:
   * Chairman Emeritus Clara L. McLean, a sister of Malcom McLean and
former Sea-Land officer.
   * President Charles R. Cushing, a naval architect who designed ships for McLean.
   * Vice President Ronald M. Katims, a former Sea-Land executive who now heads RMK Consulting Group.
   * Treasurer James Devine, president of New York Container Terminal.
   * Secretary John D. McCown, chairman and chief executive officer of Trailer Bridge, another company McLean founded.
   Those wishing to contribute materials are asked to contact Dr. George Billy, the chief librarian at the academy. He can be reached at (516) 773-5501, or billyg@usmma.edu.