Captain Ken Owen

Ken's career at sea through the 1950s and 1960s encompassed passenger and conventional cargo vessels.  He secured the various qualifications through to 'Masters' (Certificate of Competency as a Master Mariner) and received promotion from midshipman to captain.  By the 1970s he was sailing on the OCL Liverpool Bay-class containerships which were managed and manned by Ocean Fleets, and he moved over to P&O Containers the mid-1980s. 

With P&O Containers and then P&O Nedlloyd, Ken sailed on a range of company container vessels, but it is fair to say that one of his favourite commands was the Strathconon, a ship he sailed on for a number of years on the TransPacific and Atlantic services.   He had a reputation as a captain who was not only a good seaman, but who genuinely cared about the welfare of all on board.

"I first met Ken when we were both midshipmen on the Blue Funnel ship Calchas in September 1954.  Since then we have been close friends and I have many happy memories involving family exchange visits, holidays abroad, maritime dinners and company reunions.   There is though probably only room here for three of those stories!

When I was based at the port of Southampton and Ken was on the Peninsular Bay, I gave him a couple of grow bags so he could grow some tomatoes in the wheelhouse.   This was one of Ken's favourite hobbies on board, and he told me that on one vessel an American pilot was amazed and said 'Gee Captain, I ain't seen tomatoes grown in a wheelhouse like this!'  

Apparently on another voyage, Ken's ship received a call from another company vessel that was passing, with a query about whether he was on board.  When Ken came up to the bridge, the person on the other ship said he thought he must be on board as he could see the tomatoes through his binoculars...

Ken of course had a farm, and he didn't just bring his agricultural interests to sea with the growing of fruit and veg...   In the accommodation on our vessels the internal doors would have notices about wearing hard hats, safety boots, etc.  When Ken was on board the notices were usually about chickens, donkeys, sheep, pigs, etc.!

Ken was a regular attendee at the annual SCARA reunion lunch in London, and we last saw him at the 2023 event.

SCARA members will be familiar with the series of 'Captain Ken' articles written by Ken for the Mellor Church Outlook Magazine.   He very kindly gave us permission to reproduce them on the PONL Heritage website, and they give a rich insight to Ken's career at sea, and shipping in a bygone age (we still have a number of articles to publish, so with the family's permission they will continue to appear here (see Captain Ken articles).

Ken was taken ill earlier this year and was admitted to hospital in September.   After a prolonged stay, his daughter Elizabeth and son Richard managed to get him home.  He spent his final days there surrounded by his family, his dog and a stupendous view of the Peak District from his bed.  This was all he wanted.