Displaying items by tag: DFDS & P&O

14th December 2023

Dover-Calais Operators’ DFDS and P&O Ferries Advise Passengers During Calais Port Workers’ Strike

Strait of Dover ferry sailings to Calais are being affected by strike action in France today, (14 Dec.) an operator has warned.

The Danish company, DFDS says because of the effect on the Dover-Calais route, it is offering sailings on their alternative route to northern France, Dover-Dunkirk.

French workers began the strike action and is expected to last 24 hours.

Commenting on the strike, a DFDS spokesman said: “Strike action by port workers in Calais is affecting sailings on DFDS' Dover-Calais route today.

P&O say on X that its sailings from Dover up to 3.25pm are running on time so far but advise passengers to continue checking tweet feeds.

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