Laid down as Bolton Castle for Lancashire Shipping Ltd., her intended trade was to have been to China. With the Chinese Revolution in 1949 and the subsequent take-over by the communists, trading with mainland China was no longer possible. At that point she was purchased by Blue Star Line while on the stocks.
With her characteristic profile due to her outsized funnel for the period, she was an instantly recognisable vessel. Unlike the majority of Blue Star Line vessels, she was only partially refrigerated. She was transferred within the group, in 1968 to Lamport & Holt and became the Roland. She was then  employed on the UK - River Plate - Brazil Service until June 1975. The only exception being in November 1969 when she was chartered to the Brazilian company Frota Oceanica Brasileira to inaugurate their new service from South America to South Africa, Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan. Resuming her normal trade in June 1970 from Liverpool.