Displaying items by tag: Record Turnover

25th January 2022

Interior Refurbishment Firm Sees Record Cruise Ship Business in Pandemic

An interior refurbishment company in the UK sees record business in pandemic with work carried out an Irish Sea shipyard on Merseyside. Above cruiseships Afloat has indentified from Cunard Line and P&O Cruises, both of the same 'Vista' class design.

An interior design firm in the UK which has carried out refurbishment work on some of the world’s most famous cruise ships says it has enjoyed record turnover in the past eight months.

Atlantic Marine Interiors based in Christchurch, Dorset, carried out refits and maintenance to the Queen Mary II, Queen Elizabeth, Arcadia, Britannia, Iona, Azura and Ventura during the pandemic.

Chris Head, who founded the company in 2013, said: “Probably the ghostliest sight for us was all of those cruise ships at anchor off the coast of Dorset during the pandemic. But when the green light came for them to start operating again in May, planning started for their return to service, and our workload went off the scale.”

During this period, Atlantic also modernised the historic RMS St Helena to transport the Extreme E electric motorsport team and its cars around the world.

This involved work on the bridge, VIP and owners’ suites, VIP lounge and bar, science laboratory, restaurant and galley and fitting out suites for champion drivers Lewis Hamilton (related story) and Jensen Button.

The Daily Echo has more on this business where fitting out took place at the Merseyside shipyard of Cammell Laird in Birkenhead.

Published in Cruise Liners

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Record Turnover

Record Turnover Announced at Foyle Port Despite Brexit Uncertainty

A record turnover of £10m was achieved at Foyle Port during 2018/19. Above: Afloat adds is the bulk-carrier Clover Colossus berthed at Lisahally, the port's main terminal located downriver of Derry city.

It has been announced that Foyleport had a record £10 million in turnover despite the uncertainty posed by Brexit.

The Derry harbour, reports The Irish News, recorded an operating profit of £1.9m during 2018/19, marking its seventh year of consecutive growth.

The record turnover followed the port's handling of record levels of animal feed and fertiliser.

It means that all three of the north's ports have reported growth in the past year.

In June, Warrenpoint Port said its turnover rose by 5.5 per cent to £6.1m during 2018.

Further reading on the story can be found here.

Published in Ports & Shipping

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About Conor O'Brien, Irish Circumnavigator

In 1923-25, Conor O'Brien became the first amateur skipper to circle the world south of the Great Capes. O'Brien's boat Saoirse was reputedly the first small boat (42-foot, 13 metres long) to sail around the world since Joshua Slocum completed his voyage in the 'Spray' during 1895 to 1898. It is a journey that O' Brien documented in his book Across Three Oceans. O'Brien's voyage began and ended at the Port of Foynes, County Limerick, Ireland, where he lived.

Saoirse, under O'Brien's command and with three crew, was the first yacht to circumnavigate the world by way of the three great capes: Cape Horn, Cape of Good Hope and Cape Leeuwin; and was the first boat flying the Irish tri-colour to enter many of the world's ports and harbours. He ran down his easting in the Roaring Forties and Furious Fifties between the years 1923 to 1925.

Up until O'Brien's circumnavigation, this route was the preserve of square-rigged grain ships taking part in the grain race from Australia to England via Cape Horn (also known as the clipper route).

At a Glance - Conor O'Brien's Circumnavigation

In June 1923, Limerick man Conor O’Brien set off on his yacht, the Saoirse — named after the then newly created Irish Free State — on the two-year voyage from Dun Laoghaire Harbour that was to make him the first Irish amateur to sail around the world.

June 1923 - Saoirse’s arrival in Madeira after her maiden passage out from Dublin Bay

2nd December 1924 - Saoirse crossed the longitude of Cape Horn

June 20th 1925 - O’Brien’s return to Dun Laoghaire Harbour