Lloyds List, London
8 July 2003
Courtenay Allan dies after accident on OOCL Montreal

COURTENAY Allan, transatlantic trades director for Orient Overseas Container Line, has been killed in an accident onboard the OOCL Montreal.

He was badly hurt in a fall down a lift shaft last Thursday, and died from multiple fractures the following day. Full details of how the tragedy occurred are unclear.

The OOCL Montreal was on its maiden voyage and Mr Allan had been attending a customer reception on the ship in Le Havre when he was fatally injured. The accident is now under investigation by French police and other authorities but the ship was allowed to sail on Friday after a 24-hour delay.

The 4,400 teu ship was only delivered from Daewoo Shipbuilding and Engineering Co in Korea in May. It is entered with the North of England P&I Club.

Mr Allan was a high-profile and popular figure in shipping circles, and news of his death shocked friends and colleagues around the world.

In 2001, he narrowly survived when forced to run for his life after the World Trade Center was attacked as he was walking across the plaza between the two towers.

Mr Allan had also helped set up the Trans-Atlantic Agreement and its successor, the Trans-Atlantic Conference Agreement, and so was well-known to his opposite numbers in member lines including Maersk Sealand, P&O Nedlloyd, NYK Line, Hapag-Lloyd, Mediterranean Shipping Co and Atlantic Container Line.

"This is tragic, he will definitely be missed," said Taca chairman Olav Rakkenes, who had known Mr Allan since the early 1990s and described him as one of the pioneers of Taca.

Mr Allan also worked closely with Canada Maritime, which partners OOCL the Europe-Canada trades.

He was in the forefront of liner industry efforts to save the conference system that is now under review by Brussels. He gave a speech at the European Shippers' Council forum in Antwerp last month to explain the benefits of collective pricing.

Mr Allan, 53, began his shipping career in 1967 and worked for the former Manchester Liners, which eventually became part of the OOCL.

His father was a shipwright, but he only learned recently that his family had owned a shipping company at one time, Allan Line which operated services between Glasgow and Montreal before being acquired by CP in 1917.