The Booker Line in British Guiana

In 1834 Booker Brothers & Co, known as “Bookers”, was established in what had by then become British Guiana. The shipping sector of the company was founded in 1835 by the Booker brothers Josias, George and Richard, after a dispute arose between George and the shipping company that shipped the sugar from their Demerara plantations to the refineries in the United Kingdom.

The first vessel the brothers acquired was a brig called the Elizabeth, built in Scotland in 1832. The Elizabeth was sold in 1837 and the company bought the Palmyra that same year.
Much of early Booker shipping history has been lost to the 1864, 1945 and 1947 Georgetown fires, as well as its records in London due to the Second World War; but other early vessels known to have belonged to the company include the Standard, Lucknow, Lord Elgin, Lancaster and John Harrocks.
As the shipping company prospered, a regular direct service from Liverpool to Georgetown was established in 1887 that was called the Liverpool Line. The name remained until 1911 when it was changed to Booker Line.
While some vessels were chartered, others like the Imataka, Amakura and Arakaka – Arawak names – were owned by the company. The Imataka was the first ship in the new Booker Line.
The Imataka and Amakura were torpedoed in the First World War, while the Arakaka was sold in 1922. While the Amakura (2) and Arakaka (2) were rebuilt, both were lost during the Second World War. Amakura was once again rebuilt in 1946 and Arakaka in 1949.
The Amakura (3) and the Arakaka (3) were later sold and replaced with the Booker Vanguard, Booker Venture, and the Booker Viking. A fourth vessel, the Booker Valliance, was chartered from Norwegian owners. In 1973, the Booker Voyager joined the line after the company relinquished the charter of the Booker Valliance. The Booker Vulcan entered the Booker Line in 1974.
In 1961, the Booker bulk sugar carrier, the Booker Venture made its maiden voyage carrying sugar from British Guiana to Canada. She was sold in 1978 and eventually scrapped in India in 1986.
Other ships included the Booker Challenge, Crusade, Courage and Booker Valiant. The Booker Anasabi (1958-1966) was built for Booker’s British Guiana coastal trade which included ferrying greenheart logs.
However, due to world economic changes, Booker Line eventually ceased trading, and in 1982 the ships were docked and put up for sale. The last of the ships, the Booker Challenge, was sold in 1983. After 150 years in the shipping business, the Liverpool Booker Line shipping company would close in the 1980s.