Helen Deeble CBE is a British businesswoman. She was the Chief Executive of P&O Ferries until December 2017, and was formerly President of the UK Chamber of Shipping. [1]
Mrs Deeble trained as an accountant and worked at Sears plc. She entered the shipping industry at Stena Line in 1993, becoming finance director of the merged P&O Stena Line in 1998. Since May 2006, she has been Chief Executive of P&O Ferries, succeeding Russ Peters. [2]
She is a board member of Interferry, the UK Chamber of Shipping and the Standard P&I Club. Deeble is a non-executive director of the Port of London Authority [3] and chairs the management committee of the Authority's pension fund. She was vice-president and president of the UK Chamber of Shipping from 2011 to 2013. [4]
She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours. [5]
Stena Line is a Swedish shipping line company and one of the largest ferry operators in the world. It services Denmark, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Finland and Sweden. Stena Line is a major unit of Stena AB, itself a part of the Stena Sphere. It is a sister company to one of the world's leading tanker company Stena Bulk.
Sealink was a ferry company based in the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1984, operating services to France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Isle of Man, Channel Islands, Isle of Wight and Ireland.
P&O was a British shipping and logistics company dating from the early 19th century. Formerly a public company, it was sold to DP World in March 2006 for £3.9 billion. DP World currently operates several P&O branded businesses, P&O Ferries, Istithmar P&O Estates, and P&O Maritime Logistics. It also operates P&O Heritage, which is the official historic archive and collection of P&O.
Loch Ryan is a Scottish sea loch that acts as an important natural harbour for shipping, providing calm waters for ferries operating between Scotland and Northern Ireland. The town of Stranraer is the largest settlement on its shores, with ferries to and from Northern Ireland operating from Cairnryan further north on the loch.
Belfast Harbour is a major maritime hub in Belfast, Northern Ireland, handling 67% of Northern Ireland's seaborne trade and about 25% of the maritime trade of the entire island of Ireland. It is a vital gateway for raw materials, exports and consumer goods, and is also Northern Ireland's leading logistics and distribution hub.
P&O Ferries is a British shipping company that operates ferries from United Kingdom to Ireland, and to Continental Europe. The company was created in 2002 through mergers and acquisitions within P&O. It has been owned by Dubai-based DP World since 2019.
The MS Pride of Telemark was a ferry which previously sailed between Dover and Calais for P&O Ferries and Stena Line.
MS Isle of Innisfree is a passenger and car ferry to be operated by Irish Ferries between Dover and Calais. Originally built at Boelwerf as the Prins Filip originally sailing between Dover and Ostend, later between Ostend and Ramsgate, she has since 1997 operated for a wide variety of companies.
High-speed Sea Service or Stena HSS was a class of high-speed craft developed by and originally operated by Stena Line on European international ferry routes. The HSS 1500 had an in-service speed of 40 knots (75 km/h).
P&O Stena Line was formed in 1998 after the merger of P&O European Ferries (Dover) Ltd and the Dover and Newhaven operations of Stena Line.
Jeffrey Maurice Sterling, Baron Sterling of Plaistow, is a British businessman and Conservative peer. The Plaistow referred to is Plaistow, West Sussex, reflected in the land holdings in the county.
The MS Express Aphrodite was a ferry originally named St. Columba. Built in 1977, at the Aalborg Shipyard in Denmark, St. Columba was originally a Sealink UK ferry, operating between Holyhead and Dún Laoghaire in the Irish Sea. She laterally operated between Duba and Jeddah for Namma Shipping Lines. She was beached at Gadani for scrapping in December 2021.
MS Oscar Wilde is a cross-channel ferry to be operated by Irish Ferries on the Dover-Calais route. Formerly named Spirit of Britain, she is the first of two Spirit-class ships built for P&O Ferries, the other being Spirit of France. The vessels are the largest ferries constructed for the cross-channel route. She was chartered by Irish Ferries after being laid up by P&O in early 2024; with the obligation to purchase after two years.
Speedlink Vanguard was a 3,514 GRT train ferry which was built in 1973 as Stena Shipper. She was charted to a New Zealand operator on completion and renamed Union Wellington and saw further service as Alpha Express and Stena Shipper before entering service with Sealink as Speedlink Vanguard. The ship was involved in a collision with European Gateway in 1982, which sank the latter ship with the loss of six lives.
Alexandrina Henderson Farmer Jay, CBE is a British academic. She is visiting professor at the University of Strathclyde and the independent chair of the Centre for Excellence for Children's Care and Protection (CELCIS).
Dame Helen Anne Alexander DBE was a British businesswoman. She served as the chairman of UBM plc. She had an MA from Oxford and an MBA from INSEAD, and in 2016 was awarded the Legion d'Honneur. She was Chancellor of the University of Southampton (2011–2017).
Russ Peters is a British businessman, who was the managing director of P&O Ferries from 1998 to 2006.
Paul Drechsler, is an Irish businessman. He is the former Confederation of British Industry President. He serves as the Chairman of International Chamber of Commerce and BusinessLDN. He was Chancellor of Teesside University until July 2022.
The UK Chamber of Shipping is the trade association and voice of the UK shipping industry, representing around 200 member companies. They work with Government, parliament, international organisations and others to champion and protect the industry on behalf of their members.
MS Nordic Ferry was a car ferry built in South Korea as Merzario Espania in 1978 for the Stena Container Line. She operated on Stena's Merzario Line and was renamed Merzario Hispania. Sold to European Ferries in 1980 she was jumboised and renamed Nordic Ferry before sailing on the Felixstowe–Europoort route under the Townsend Thoresen brand. She was taken up from trade by the British government in 1982 to carry troops and stores during the Falklands War, returning to commercial service later that year. She served on the Felixstowe–Zeebrugge routes after a 1986 refit, and was renamed Pride of Flanders after the Townsend Thoresen rebranding to P&O European Ferries the following year. She was sold to Stena Line in 2002 and renamed Flanders and then Stena Transporter. In 2009 she was sold to Strade Blu and renamed Strada Corsa, serving on their Livorno to Olbia route in Italian waters. Sold to Baja Ferries in 2013 and renamed La Paz Star she sailed to the Pacific and served on routes along the northern part of the Western Mexican coast. She was sold again to Medferry Shipping in 2016 and the following year returned to European waters. After a refit she served on the Rhodes to Santorini route in Greek waters. She caught fire in June 2017 and, though saved, was afterwards scrapped in Turkey under the name Star.