Master mariner tells stories of 50 years battling fires, flooding and other mishaps to bring ships safely to port

Alan Loynd

Alan Loynd, who has a 50-year history as a master mariner in Hong Kong, has published a new book called All at Sea: a Memoir. On 10 June from 6:30 pm Captain Loynd will give a talk on the book and his shipping experiences at the library of the University of Hong Kong.

He left school at 16 years of age to join the merchant navy. In 1975 Loynd signed on with the Swire Group serving as second officer and later master on various ships and tugs for China Navigation Co., Swire Pacific Offshore and Hong Kong Salvage and Towage. He became a salvage expert notably undertaking the recovery of a Boeing 747 that slid off the Kai Tak runway into the sea in 1993. In the book he describes many salvage operations battling fires and flooding to bring stricken vessels safely to port.

Early this century Loynd took early retirement from Swire to start his own firm, Branscombe Marine Consultants. It specialises in towage and salvage, marine accident investigation, expert witness work and supervising construction of tugs.

Hong Kong’s Proverse Publishing is producing and distributing All at Sea. At the June 10 talk founder of Proverse, Gillian Bickley, will introduce Captain Loynd.

All at Sea: a memoir. Alan Loynd, Proverse Hong Kong. ISBN : 978-988-8492-19-0

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