Company News
Shipping MD contended with armed police, border control and railway strikes to get back to business
Posted: 5 May 2010
THE Managing Director of a global boat transportation and freight forwarding company travelled across Europe by coach, train and ferry for 48 hours to get back to his business in the midst of the Icelandic volcano chaos.
Frank Dixie, MD of PSP (Premier Shipping & Packing), had to contend with railway strikes and armed police in order to get back from Split in Croatia.
The shipping boss had been visiting the Croatia Boat Show, where several of his clients were exhibiting, and was due to fly home on Thursday, April 15. However, when the Icelandic volcano erupted and the flight ban kicked into force, his straightforward plan was thrown into chaos and he and his wife, Trisha, were forced to think outside of the box in order to make it back to the UK.
Desperate to get back to business in Hampshire after two days of trying to get a plane home, Frank and Trisha decided to take matters into their own hands.
On the 17th they boarded a train from Split to Zagreb and from there managed to get a train to Munich in Germany. The relatively simple trip was not without its drama as Frank reported that, in the middle of the night, Slovenian Border Control Officers rushed onto the train and turfed passengers out of their beds and into the cold while they searched for illegal immigrants.
After a restless night the couple arrived in Munich and managed to get another train to Brussels. Frank said:
“Just as we thought we were on track to getting home, armed German police boarded the packed train and told the British passengers to get out because there were too many people. They flashed their guns and strutted about, which got rid of a few, but everyone was so desperate to get home and there was such a sense of camaraderie that a lot of us refused and they gave in.”
Once in Brussels, they were able to get another train to Lille – where they hoped they could transfer to Calais. But once again their luck was out as French railway workers were on strike, forcing them to take a coach to Calais and adding another five hours to their journey.
From Calais Frank and Trisha finally managed to get a ferry back to Portsmouth and arrived home after 48 hours of travel with little sleep and little food.
Frank said:
“It was one of the most stressful experiences trying to get home and back to my business but I was taken aback by the way that people pulled together in a crisis. There was a real sense of camaraderie everywhere and although people were almost at the end of their tethers they managed to work together to get home.”
