HSL Geraldton stops in Geraldton on maiden voyage as shipping company recognises half a century of work

Walking along Stow Gardens on Friday afternoon, Geraldton boat-watchers were greeted with a unique sight — the HSL Geraldton on its maiden voyage, stopping in its namesake city for the first time. But what made Hudson Shipping Lines, an international transportation company which ships goods all over the world, recognise Geraldton and the Mid West with their new ship? Mark Reiss, who was visiting Geraldton with HSL, said the name of the new state-of-the-art ship reflected a long relationship. “We’ve been doing business with Geraldton for probably close to 55 years, so it’s been a long time,” he said. “We have decided with our HSL series of ships to choose strategic ports or locations to honour all of them, that we do business in, or we have offices and we have connections to. “So it’s really showing that commitment to the connections that we’ve built.” Carrying copper concentrate and zircon, the ship’s next destination will be in China. The Master of HSL Geraldton’s maiden voyage was Capt. Rainell Geraldo, who enjoyed the coincidence of captaining a ship with a name so similar to his surname. He said being the captain of a ship on its maiden voyage was akin to the excitement of driving a new car. After spending time in Geraldton while the ship was docked, he said “it’s a very beautiful place”. HSL Geraldton is due to depart its namesake city on Thursday.