Safe Schull hands steer steer Queen Anne back to sea on maiden Cork voyage

THE €500m 113,000-tonne liner Queen Anne was in safe West Cork hands on its maiden voyage from Liverpool to Cobh.

Schull man Kevin O’Callaghan piloted the Cunard cruise ship out of Cobh after its historic visit, while Morgan McKnight, also from Schull, is a deck officer on the ship.

Cunard’s newest ship, Queen Anne, spans 14 decks and is 323m in length, and can carry 3,000 passengers.

Kevin, who has worked as a pilot with Port of Cork for 12 years, said it was an unbelievable honour to pilot the liner out of Cobh, and one he was delighted to share with Morgan, who he’s known for years.

Morgan McKnight and Kevin O’Callaghan, who saw her safely out again.

‘It was an intense operation, as there’s a lot of narrow channels involved, so it required a lot of concentration,’ he said, describing the ship as being more like a plane, with such advanced technology on board.

Ireland, and particularly the Port of Cork, has played a significant part in Cunard’s history. Cobh, formerly known as Queenstown, is one of the oldest of the company’s ports of call. Three of the most famous Cunard vessels that visited Cobh were the Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) and the ill-fated Lusitania and sister ship, the RMS Mauretania, in the early 1900s.

In a ceremonious event aboard the Queen Anne, a traditional plaque exchange took place to commemorate this significant occasion. Representatives from the Port of Cork presented a custom-made plaque to the ship’s captain, symbolising the enduring relationship between the port and Cunard.

A commemoration wreath was placed at the Lusitania Memorial in Cobh to honour the memory of those lost in the tragic sinking of the Lusitania in 1915.

Morgan McKnight was the third officer on board the Queen Anne and is a former student at Schull Community College.

She went on to study nautical science at the National Maritime College of Ireland (NMCI) in Ringaskiddy and has been working on ships for the past three years. She will be returning to the NMCI in September to study for her masters.

She is son of Derek McKnight, the food and beverage manager of Royal Carribbean cruise line, and Sarah McKnight, well known swimming coach in Schull, who has also worked on cruise ships as a personal fitness instructor and trainer.