History of B&I Steam Navigation Company
British India Steam Navigation Company was established in 1856 by Mckinnon and Mackenzie in Bombay India
Dwarka was one of four sister ships built post WW2 to provide shipping services between India and Gulf Countries.
B & I were the equivalent to a modern low cost airline.
It was late 1971
I'd not long arrived in Dubai
I watched Dwarka come alongside Berth No 3 Port Rashid and begin disembarking its passengers - mainly men
Shed No 3 had been turned into a temporary Customs and Immigration Clesrance facility
Passengers entered a berthside door of Shed 3 to emerge at a door fronting on to No 3 Yard
Waiting for them were representatives of the main construction companies
These representatives identified the men arrived to work for them
Each man was given a coloured tee shirt to identify which company they were to work for
Parked in the yard was a range of construction trucks
Men were grouped by the colour of their tee shirts then shepherded on to company trucks
Trucks drove out of Port Rashid enroute to the Construction Companies' Labour Camps
Construction Labour Camps also housed European Construction Workers employed on a "single status" basis
i.e. they were either unmarried or had left their families in their home country.