This building houses a group of companies called West Indian Marine. You will see the words West Indian and West Indies a lot in the Caribbean. But what do they mean? The Spanish created the moniker during the 16th century to differentiate the new world from Asia. The name covered most of the islands in the Caribbean and North Atlantic. In the 17th and 18th centuries, European countries had maritime companies called Dutch, Spanish, British, French or Swedish West India. From 1958 through 1962, the United Kingdom consolidated several islands into the West Indies Federation. Today, Caribbean islands are classified as either the Lesser or Greater Antilles. Grand Cayman is in the latter category.
