Masters: 1996 to the Present Day
Capt Eric Davies and Capt Richard Davies, Stena Adventurer, 2009. © Gordon Hislip
Captain Trevor Bailey
Trevor Bailey started his sea-going career in 1971 with BP Tanker Co. Ltd and gained his Master's Certificate in 1982. He was promoted to Master in 1984. After service in container and ro-ro vessels he joined Sealink British Ferries in 1988 serving on the Liverpool - Dun Laoghaire vessel Earl William. After service as Master on board various Sealink Stena Line English Channel vessels he moved to Holyhead in 1993 as Senior Master of the Stena Cambria. Latterly he was Training Master on board the HSS Stena Explorer. In April 1998 he left Stena Line and established Anglesey-based YG Consultants - an independent marine consultancy with special interests in high-speed craft and in safety training.
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Captain Eric Davies
Currently Master of the Stena Adventurer.
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Captain Richard Davies
Currently Senior Master of the Stena Adventurer. First command was the Stena Hibernia.
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Captain Adrian Delaney
Captain David Farrell
Joining British Rail in 1975 David Farrell's first ship was the Slieve Donard (last of the cattle carriers) then the container boats Brian Boroime and Rhodri Mawr before moving to the St Columba, St. David and Stena Cambria.
His first command was the Hengist, then the Stena Hibernia and Stena Cambria where he was promoted to Senior Master. The sister ships Stena Traveller and Stena Challenger followed and he held the position of Charterer’s Representative on the Italian flagged Stena Forwarder.
Fishguard beckoned with a Senior Master position on the Stena Europe.
Captain Farrell retired in May 2011 after 36 years with the company. He retires to his Anglesey farm with his wife Gillian but the Farrell name lives on, on the Holyhead route, with his sons Gwyndaff and Tomos both serving as deck officers on the Stena Nordica.
The picture below right shows Captain Eric Davies presenting a picture of the Stena Challenger to Captain Farrell on behalf of those that sailed with and worked with him in Holyhead.
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Captain Hugh Farrell
When it came time for Hugh Farrell to consider his Master's Ticket he was faced with the decision of where to sit his exams. During this time he accompanied his Father to a cattle market in Ireland to purchase stock for the family farm on Anglesey. During that trip he called in at the Irish Nautical College on Dun Laoghaire's West Pier where he met the Principal, Capt. Tom Walsh and so it was decided that he would sit all his Ticket's here. In July 1975 he became the last person to gain a Master's Ticket from this college before it transferred to the Regional Tech in Cork. Little did Hugh realise then what Dun Laoghaire had in store for him in later years!
After further time deep sea, with Furness Ship Management and T&J Harrison, Hugh joined British Rail's Shipping & International Services Division at Holyhead in 1976. Serving on the container ships Brian Boroime and Rhodri Mawr as well as the car ferries Dover, Avalon, Maid of Kent, Duke of Lancaster, Earl Leofric, Earl Siward and many other owned and chartered passenger-car ferries.
Having obtained his Master's Ticket at Dun Laoghaire, 14 years later Hugh had the happy coincidence of sailing into the port with his first command, the St Cybi, on his inaugural sailing as Master. The St Cybi was a ship in which he also served as Chief Officer where trials and tribulations and happy memories were many. Command of the Stena Cambria, Stena Hibernia and Stena Galloway followed until in June 1993 when he flew to Malta to join the Incat 74 metre Wave Piercing Catamaran Stena Sea Lynx on her delivery voyage from Hobart, Tasmania. Inaugurating the first high speed ferry service between Holyhead and Dun Laoghaire on this craft as Senior Master and with a dedicated crew is what Hugh considers the highlight of his career. Stena Sea Lynx was followed by the larger Stena Sea Lynx II while Holyhead awaited the arrival of the HSS 1500 Stena Explorer in April of 1996.
Retiring from the Stena Explorer in 2001, Capt. Farrell had logged well over 5,000 sailings in command of a high speed craft.
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Captain Roy Graves
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Captain John Hamley-Jones
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Captain Andy Humphreys
Andy was Master on Stena Sea Lynx before commanding Stena Sea Lynx II from Hobart to Holyhead in 1994. In 1995 he went to Finnyards to standby the HSS Stena Explorer as building Master. He was promoted to Senior Master at Finnyards and brought the craft to Holyhead in February 1996 prior to her commencement in service April 1996. Andy remained as Senior Master until he was seconded ashore as Marine Manager in September 2001 located at the Ashford office. In September 2003 the Ship & Port Management Department was re-located to Holyhead when Andy became the UK Safety Manager and as such the Designated Person Ashore for the Irish Sea ships and four UK flag North Sea ships. He is also the Designated Person for the three Stena Line owned ports of Holyhead, Fishguard and Stranraer.
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Captain Neil Humphreys
Captain Ken Jones
Captain Richard Jones
Joining Blue Funnel as a midshipman in 1956 Richard Jones' first ship was the former Liberty Ship Tantalus. Five years later he joined Thos & Jas Harrison sailing on board another Liberty - the Statesman. In 1968 He moved ashore as a Marine & Cargo Surveyor, spending two and half years in Nigeria. It was through this role that he would later become affectionately known as "Bwana"! In 1972 Richard joined British Rail at Holyhead, his first ship being the Slieve Donard. Over the years he sailed on most ships that served on the Holyhead route to Ireland, gaining his first command on the container ship Brian Boroime in 1989. Two years later Capt Richard Jones sailed as master on board the Earl William. Before retirement Capt Jones had the honour of being the former St Columba's final local Senior Master.
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Captain Tak Kershaw
Captain Tony Lavis-Jones
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Captain Peter Lockyer
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Captain Simon Mills
Simon Mills served his cadetship with the RFA in 1978 and then for a further 11 years enjoyed interesting times in the Falklands, South Georgia, the United States, North Atlantic etc. A brief spell offshore on a converted trawler in 1982 after defence cuts and then called back due to South Atlantic Crisis. In 1989 he went to the Offshore industry to serve on Dynamic Positioning (DP) Dive Support Vessels working between North Sea and Far East, Sarawak, Vietnam etc. "Very interesting times they where too, allowing much exploring of the Forests and Mountains of Borneo and SE Asia!"
Christmas 1992 saw Simon promoted to Master on the BP Offshore support vessel Safe Protector, "possibly due to the fact that no one else would go for Christmas on such a mighty vessel with big storms looming North of Aberdeen."
In summer 1993 one of the sailors mentioned that a new Fast Ferry catamaran was starting in Holyhead and so the appeal of High Tech and shorter trips resulted in a Phone call to directory enquiries. The answer of the legendary Capt Kevin Slade called him to interview in Holyhead onboard the newly arrived Stena Sea Lynx. A few weeks later he joined as Navigator serving with Holyhead stalwarts such as Hugh Farrell, Peter Lockyer, Wyn Parry, Tudor Roberts and John Gwyndaff Roberts.
"In 1994 I was part of delivery crew with Capt Andy Humphreys on Stena Sea Lynx II from Tasmania. My old friend Capt Hugh Farrell was senior master on entry into service and through him I was somehow allowed out as Master later that year. Two years later, I was sent to Perth, Western Australia, to take delivery of the Austal-built Stena Lynx IV, the first prototype Austal Car ferry built for and cancelled by Sea Containers. However, Stena were also to cancel and I returned to the UK without a ship! Later in the summer I was back out to Tasmania as Master to complete trials and take delivery of Stena Lynx III, the Incat 81m Cat for Dover Calais."
Capt Mills then served as Senior Master on Stena Lynx, operating Dover-Calais. Later that Year the P&O Joint Venture was announced so a return to Irish Sea followed with a transfer to the HSS's, serving almost one year served on the Stena Voyager in Stranraer before a return to Holyhead.
"In 1999 I left Stena and
went to Sea Containers - Irish Sea, as Marine Operations Manager looking
after Liverpool-Dublin and Isle of Man and also Belfast - Stranraer,
Troon and Heysham runs. This also sadly included the closure of
Ballycastle - Campbeltown with the Claymore. The two and
half years with Seacat where great fun and very interesting with great
variety and many challenges, even the chance to work with the legendary
Dublin Maritime and their top Terminal Manager Justin Merrigan! Sadly it
seemed that the future was uncertain there and Stena called to see if I
was interested in a return to sea on the Stena Explorer; next thing I
was back!"
On 11th September 2001 Capt Mills took over from Capt Andy Humphreys as
Senior Master when Andy went ashore as Stena Line's Marine Manager and
later Safety Manager. A year later due to complications with living in
Liverpool and working in Holyhead Simon stood down as Senior Master,
being replaced by colleague Capt Tudor Roberts. Capt Simon Mills remains
as Master of the Stena Explorer.
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Captain Bill Moss
After one year pre-sea training at Warsash, Bill Moss began his deep sea career on board Manchester Liners' ss Manchester Mariner. In 1984 he left Houlder Bros gas tankers as a Chief Officer and joined his first Sealink ship, Holyhead's Rhodri Mawr. This was to be shortlived as the pattern was to be laid off on a regular basis. Bill recalls that Capt John Sinnott used to refer to the temporary officers as 'of no fixed abode'! In 1985 Bill Moss joined Sealink in a permanent position. Eleven years later Capt Bill Moss sailed as Master on the Stena Hibernia/Stena Adventurer. Frequent Mate/Master slots followed on the Stena Challenger before being appointed as Mate/Master on the new Stena Adventurer in 2003.
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Captain Wyn Parry
First command Stena Sea Lynx. Currently Shipping & Port Manager at Holyhead.
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Captain Gareth Pritchard
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Captain Nigel Rebeiro
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Captain Iorwerth Roberts
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Captain John Gwyndaf Roberts
First command Stena Sea Lynx.
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Captain Tudor Roberts
Tudor Roberts first went to sea in 1975, joining Ocean fleets (the old Blue Funnel, Elder Demster, Glen Line, Henderson line, Guine Gulf, OCL). Passing his Masters in 1987 he joined Sealink British Ferries in September of that year as a temporary 2nd Officer, as was the case in those days! He sailed on both container ships, as 2nd and Chief Officer and also the St Columba/Stena Hibernia as 2nd Officer and Chief Officer. Time was also spent on the St Cybi, the Horsa and the Stena Cambria.
In 1993 Tudor Roberts was made permanent and he was dispatched to Tasmania as part of the delivery crew for the new high speed ferry Stena Sea Lynx. This craft was to be Capt Tudor Robert's first command before moving to Fishguard with the vessel as Senior Master in 1994. Appointed to Holyhead's new HSS Stena Explorer as Master in 1995, Tudor first enjoyed a spell as Captain on board the Stena Hibernia in summer and autumn of that year. In January 1996 he joined the Stena Explorer in Finland as Master and has remained with her ever since, becoming Senior Master in July 2003.
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Captain Richard Whalley
Captain Jim Wilcox
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