Ahoy! Ship comes in for ferry fan Frank, as he's named junior captain - aged five
Five-year-old Frank Allen’s used to watching ferries traversing Belfast Lough, dreaming of one day captaining the sturdy sea vessels – and now his ship’s truly come in.
The boat-obsessed boy has been named Honorary Junior Captain of a Stena Line ferry, guesting on board one of the company’s ‘Superfast’ craft between Northern Ireland and Scotland.
Inspecting the bridge to make sure everything was truly shipshape and Bristol fashion, he met Senior Master David Howie to see how a real captain helms the journey.
He also met members of the crew and was presented with his own binoculars, hat and name badge for official proof of his honorary rank – and received a trip for his family on any of the line’s Irish Sea routes.
Passing over his own gift, Frank presented Captain Howie with a picture he had drawn of a Stena Line ship, saying thanks for inviting him aboard.
As his family explained, the five-year-old’s home in the north-east of Belfast looks over a stretch of the city’s lough, giving him a prime viewing platform to watch ferries arriving and departing.
Inspired, the boy now doesn’t follow his young pals in dreaming of becoming a footballer or astronaut when he grows up, but wants to be a ferry captain.
He has a particular soft spot for the ‘Stena Connecta’ and ‘Stena Futura’ vessels that sail on Belfast Lough, which drove his dad Michael to hoist the mainsail and set out for the ferry company.
Contacting them to ask if they had any models or booklets that could make the young ferry enthusiast’s day, the firm instead decided to push the boat out by giving him an honorary rank with a tour around a ship’s bridge.
Said Michael: “Every day my son looks out onto Belfast Lough to see the ferries, he’s obsessed.
“He asks me to look up the ship details online and he knows all the different craft. He’s particularly fond of the new Stena Connecta and Stena Futura vessels but equally loves to look out at the Stena Superfast.
“We’ve been on the Stena Edda once and it was literally the best day of his life. He’s even made his own ferry model out of cardboard.”
Stena’s Irish Sea travel commercial manager, Orla Noonan, said firm officials recognised “a very special ferry fan we simply had to meet” after reading Michael’s enquiry on behalf of his son.
“It’s not every day that we get to welcome a five-year-old captain aboard, but Frank has more than earned his stripes,” she said.
“We were delighted to welcome Frank onto the bridge, introduce him to the crew and give him a behind the scenes glimpse of life onboard.
“Seeing his excitement as he put on his captain’s hat was a real highlight for all of us, and we look forward to welcoming Captain Frank and his family back onboard again soon.”
The five-year-old’s honorary appointment comes as Stena Line spotlights family-friendly ferry travel over the summer, pointing to its ‘family hub’ on Superfast routes between Belfast and Cairnryan that offers all-ages activities from interactive design features to touchscreens and video games.