Andrew, a native born Manxman, coming from a family of seafarers decided as a young boy that it was to be a ‘sailor’s life’ for him. After attending Murray’s Road School in Douglas, Isle of Man he joined HMS Conway in May 1958 – the first step in what was to be a thirty two years sea career. He enjoyed HMS Conway and made many friends there, many of whom he met again at Conway’s 150th anniversary celebration in Liverpool in August 2009.

A major international relief operation was launched to help the people of Haiti after their country was devastated by a massive earthquake that struck at around 1700 hours on Jan 12.

The epicentre of the magnitude 7.0 earthquake was less than 10 miles from the capital Port-au-Prince.

The Cunard Line’s new 92,000gt cruise ship Queen Elizabeth was floated out of the building dock at Fincantieri’s Monfalcone shipyard near Trieste, Italy, on Jan 5.

Two masters and two pilots involved in Hong Kong’s worst maritime disaster since 1971 have been sentenced to up to 38 months in prison on charges related to endangering life at sea. The panamax bulk carrier Yao Hai and the offshore supply vessel Neftegaz-67 collided at 2100 hrs on March 22, 2008, close to Hong Kong International Airport, with the bow of the bulker striking and holing the supply vessel amidships.