A cruise ship captain who ‘ran away to sea’ aged 10, later to be decorated for helping land British troops from the legendary liner Canberra during the Falklands War, will command P&O Cruises’ Pacific Sun for her inaugural Newcastle cruise season in September.
As a youngster, Captain Trevor Lane has vivid memories of travelling by train each day in full uniform to attend the London Nautical College and chatting to a young girl who would one day become his wife.
Hailing from two generations of butchers from Deptford, Captain Lane seemed set to carry on the family tradition until the lure of the sea became overwhelming.
“My grandfather had a family butcher’s shop in Deptford, about a mile east of Greenwich on the Thames, where Henry VIII built his ships,” Captain Lane said. ‘My Dad also grew up a butcher and had several shops in the area.
“Being an only son, my destiny looked as if it was set until I ‘ran away to sea’. After I joined my first ship as a teenager, I was desperately homesick and, after a month, wished I was home in London working, you guessed it, as a butcher.”
Captain Lane managed to shake off his homesickness and progressed through the ranks from cadet to navigator of P&O’s legendary Canberra, one of the most celebrated liners on the UK to Australia run.
During the Falklands War, Canberra was requisitioned by the British Defence Ministry to ferry the Parachute Regiment and the Royal Marines to reclaim the Falklands from Argentina.
Trevor Lane was among those decorated for their part in landing British troops at San Carlos Water in May 1982 while Canberra and accompanying British warships came under fierce air attack.
After the war, Captain Lane resumed his studies at the School of Navigation to qualify as a Master Mariner. With a young family, Captain Lane took an 11-year break from the sea, migrated to Canada working for the British Columbia Ferry Corporation.
Once his children were grown, he returned to the sea ultimately becoming Staff Captain on the most famous cruise liner in the world, Cunard’s Queen Mary 2, which will spend an extended period in Australian waters in 2012.
Captain Lane became Master of Pacific Sun last year and is looking forward to bringing her to Newcastle to begin a new era of P&O Cruise operations from the Hunter region.
“I hear great things about Newcastle and it will be a great pleasure to welcome passengers from the Hunter onboard Pacific Sun,” Captain Lane said. “Mariners know about Newcastle’s proud maritime history and its connections with the great maritime centres of England where I grew up.
“I am also an avid soccer fan, which means I may have to become a Newcastle Jets supporter along with following the Newcastle Knights, of course.”
Captain Lane’s wife of 30 years, Paula, travels with him from time-to-time and on his rare breaks from the sea they have a shared passion for hiking, skiing and gardening.
“We hope to get out and about to explore the Hunter, which I know from the superb food and wine we serve on Pacific Sun is really a very special area,” Captain Lane said.