Displaying items by tag: Staff Cuts

29th May 2020

Ferry Jobs at Stena Line Under Threat at Holyhead Port

MS Rhun ap Iorwerth says it shows the 'vulnerability of people on temporary or zero hours contracts'. Above Afloat adds is the Port of Holyhead (second busiest after Dover) operated by Stena Line Ports Ltd. In this quieter scene of the north Wales port which is absent of ferries including rival, Irish Ferries, which also shares the Salt Island terminal, though unaccompanied freight trailer units occupy the hard-standing areas.

Ferry operator Stena Line which employs dozens of temporary jobs are set to lost at Holyhead Port, reports NorthWalesLive.

The Swedish owned ferry company announced last month it planned to furlough 600 employees with 150 redundancies across the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

It has emerged 40 will be temporary posts at Holyhead Port, which are set to be axed at the end of the month.

Ynys Mon MS Rhun ap Iorwerth has expressed concerns about the job losses, but a company boss said they were having to make tough decisions.

“This shows the inherent vulnerability of people on temporary or zero hours contracts," said Mr Iorwerth.

For more including a response from Ian Davies, Trade Director, Irish Sea South, Stena Line and his reference to the impact of Ireland currently imposing a 14 self-isolation policy for anyone entering the country, click here

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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