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Displaying items by tag: Black Sea Sochi

#FerryBreakers – In 2011, Afloat.ie reported on a trio of Irish Sea Larne-Fleetwood (since closed) ro-ro freight vessels which Stena Line sold to Russian interests in the Black Sea and understood for use in the recently held Winter Olympics in Sochi, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The sisters Stena Seafarer, Stena Leader and Stena Pioneer, the latter which as Bison between 1989-1993 served B&I Line on joint service with P&O's freight division, Pandoro between Dublin-Liverpool.

At the time of the vessels sale, they departed Belfast Lough in mid-June. They were understood to be bound for to Sevastopol in the Ukraine and placed under the Moldovan flag and with a port of registry in Giurgiulesti.

For much more on this story, Ships Monthly reports of the German-built sisters which spent more than 30 years on Irish Sea freight services originally for P&O before their most recent spells with Russian operator Antship. They fittingly ended their days together after arriving at Aliaga, Turkey for scrapping during February.

 

Published in Ferry

About Commander Bill King, Solo Circumnavigator

William Donald Aelian King was the last surviving submarine commander in the Second World War - in charge of the British Navy's T-class Telemachus that sank a Japanese sub in the Strait of Malacca, between Malaysia and Sumatra, in 1944.

Decorated many times for his service by the end of the war, King became a trailblazing solo sailor.

At the age of 58, he was the oldest participant in The Sunday Times Golden Globe Race sailing Galway Blazer II, a junk-rigged schooner he designed himself.

After a number of abortive attempts, including an incident with "a large sea creature", he finally completed his solo circumnavigation of the globe in 1973.

Beyond his aquatic escapades, King settled with his wife Anita (who died in 1984, aged 70) at Oranmore Castle outside Galway after the war, where he later developed a pioneering organic farm and garden to help tackle his wife's asthma.

The round-the-world sailor and Galway native Bill King died on Friday, 21 September, 2012, aged 102.