51-482: Jack Sears (16 February 1930 – 6 August 2016) was a British race and rally driver, and was one of the principal organisers of the 1968 London-Sydney Marathon . Sears was popularly known as "Gentleman Jack". His son David is also involved in motorsport. He won the inaugural British Saloon Car Championship in 1958, driving an Austin Westminster . After finishing on joint maximum points with Tommy Sopwith , it
102-570: A Porsche 911 , ahead of the Ford Falcon GT of Ian Vaughan who finished third in 1968. Kenya 's Mike Kirkland , a stalwart of the Safari Rally , took the final place on the podium in a Peugeot 504 . A second rerun was organised in 2000 as a "Millennium celebration of [the] first epic event." Again, much of Asia was inaccessible for political reasons, with two airlifts instead of the single one of 1993. Now, after crossing Europe and Turkey in
153-470: A FTSE 100 company when BPB plc was taken over. A bidding war commenced when Singapore's PSA International made a £3.5 billion offer, which Dubai Ports World then topped with a bid of £3.9bn (US$ 7bn). Despite speculation that it would make a higher bid, PSA withdrew, and in February 2006 shareholders voted in favour of the offer from Dubai. The combined group is the world's third largest ports operator. When
204-570: A controlling interest in the Orient Line , its partner in the England-Australia mail route. Further acquisitions followed and the fleet reached a peak of almost 500 ships in the mid-1920s. In 1920, the company also established a bank, P&O Bank , that it sold to Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China (now Standard Chartered Bank ) in 1927. At this time it established a commercial relationship with Spinney's of Haifa , that developed into
255-613: A former racing driver, plotted a 7,000 miles (11,000 km) course covering eleven countries in as many days, and arranged that the P&;O liner S.S. Chusan would ferry the first 72 cars and their crews on the nine-day voyage from India, before the final 2,600 miles (4,200 km) across Australia: The remaining crews departed Bombay at 03:00 on Thursday 5 December, arriving in Fremantle at 10:00 on Friday 13 December before they restarted in Perth
306-556: A high-profile asset. AIG GIG was an experienced infrastructure investor globally, having also recently acquired the London City Airport . On 16 December 2006 P&O Dover (Holdings) Limited , a subsidiary of P&O and DP World sold its shares Phase 1 (22.5%) and Phase 2 (owned indirectly 22.5% shares), a port of Shenzhen , People's Republic of China , to a joint venture company of China Merchants Holdings (International) and Modern Terminals Limited (MTL), for which MTL bore
357-419: A leading position in these fields. Fastcraft is the name given to the service implemented after the split-up of P&O European Ferries in 1998. The first ship was called Superstar Express (entered service in 1998) and sailed alongside Pride of Cherbourg and Pride of Hampshire between Portsmouth and Cherbourg. On 6 March 1987, the roll on/roll off ferry, Herald of Free Enterprise , capsized off
408-492: A major regional high-end grocery store chain, which eventually provided shipping services access to much of the Middle East. Until 1934 it operated liners from Key West, Florida to Havana ; then it operated from Miami to Cuba until 1960. In 1932, P&O expanded their passenger operations to Australia , with the introduction of Strathaird , which departed on a cruise to Brisbane and Norfolk Island . Eighty-five of
459-733: A sailor from the Shetland Isles, went into partnership to operate a shipping line, primarily operating routes between England, Spain and Portugal. In 1835, Dublin shipowner Captain Richard Bourne joined the business, and the three men chartered the William Fawcett and started a regular steamer service between London and Spain and Portugal – the Iberian Peninsula – using the name Peninsular Steam Navigation Company , with services to Vigo , Oporto , Lisbon and Cádiz . As
510-463: A similar car. Paddy Hopkirk , this time driving a Citroën CX , took the final podium spot. Nick Brittan , a competitor in the original event in a Lotus Cortina , established his company as an organiser of modern endurance rallies with a 25th anniversary re-run of the marathon in 1993. He persuaded 21 drivers who had competed in 1968 to return, including Andrew Cowan and Roger Clark , and altogether 106 teams from 17 countries entered. Cowan drove
561-526: A terminal rear differential failure. Encountering a Cortina by the roadside, he persuaded the initially reluctant owner to sell his rear axle and resumed once more, although at the cost of 80 minutes' delay while it was replaced. This left Lucien Bianchi and co-driver Jean-Claude Ogier in the Citroën DS in the lead ahead of Gilbert Staepelaere/Simo Lampinen in the German Ford Taunus, with Andrew Cowan in
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#1733084579548612-519: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . London-Sydney Marathon The London–Sydney Marathon was a car rally from the United Kingdom to Australia. It was first run in 1968, a second event by the same organizers was run in 1977 and a third in 1993 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the original. Three further rallies have subsequently been contested in 2000, 2004 and 2014. The 1968 event inspired different organizers to create
663-464: The Daily Express and two of his editorial executives, Jocelyn Stevens and Tommy Sopwith , decided to create an event which their newspaper could sponsor, and which would serve to raise the country's spirits. Such an event would, it was felt, act as a showcase for British engineering and would boost export sales in the countries through which it passed. The initial UK£10,000 winner's prize offered by
714-506: The 1963 Le Mans 24 Hours , the best result in the abbreviated racing history of the LMB. Sears died on 6 August 2016 from lung cancer. He had previously survived a heart attack. ( key ) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.) † Events with 2 races staged for the different classes. ‡ Event with 3 races staged for the different classes. This biographical article related to English motor racing
765-588: The 1970 London to Mexico World Cup Rally , the 1974 London-Sahara-Munich World Cup Rally , and the Dakar Rally . The original 1968 event was won by Andrew Cowan , Colin Malkin and Brian Coyle, driving a Hillman Hunter . Fifty-six cars finished. The original Marathon was the result of a lunch in late 1967, during a period of despondency in Britain caused by the devaluation of the pound . Sir Max Aitken , proprietor of
816-629: The British-India Steam Navigation Company (BI). The amalgamation of these two companies began in 1914 but BI had retained its own identity until this time. Strick Line and Hain-Nourse, amongst several other lines were also taken over in the early 1970s. BI cargo ships were renamed Strath*M* ( Strathmore , Strathmuir , Strathmay , etc.) or Strath*C* ( Strathcarron , Strathcarrol ), the Strick line ships renamed Strath*A* ( Strathanna , Strathaird , Strathattrick (the big "A") etc.) and
867-508: The Chrysler factory on the assumption that only half a dozen drivers would even reach Sydney, took victory in his Hillman Hunter and claimed the £10,000 prize. Hopkirk finished second, while Australian Ian Vaughan was third in a factory-entered Ford XT Falcon GT . Ford Australia won the Teams' Prize with their three Falcons GTs, placing 3rd, 6th and 8th. The success of the 1968 marathon spawned
918-635: The Daily Express was soon joined by a £3,000 runners-up award and two £2,000 prizes for the third-placed team and for the highest-placed Australians, all of which were underwritten by the Daily Telegraph newspaper and its proprietor Sir Frank Packer , who was eager to promote the Antipodean leg of the rally. An eight-man organising committee was established to create a suitably challenging but navigable route. Jack Sears , organising secretary and himself
969-587: The World Cup rallies , although after the controversial 1974 event, no further World Cup event would be held. While the original event was to prove a triumph for the Rootes Group , the 1977 edition, this time sponsored by Singapore Airlines , was dominated by Mercedes-Benz . The German marque claimed a 1–2 finish and had two other cars in the top eight, with Andrew Cowan in a 280E repeating his success of nine years previous, followed home by teammate Tony Fowkes in
1020-543: The Carnival Corporation to form Carnival Corporation & plc . In June 2004, P&O sold its 25% stake in Royal P&;O Nedlloyd , a major container shipping business into which its container operations had been merged in 1996. Some records state that original staff members partially diverged to form Paeteco Imports and Exports in 2005, a small, privately held international subsidiary of Jcorp. The container company
1071-746: The Hain-Nourse ships Strath*T* ( Strathtruim , Strathtay etc.). The newest ships were 6 Strath*D*s ( Strathdoon , Strathduns etc.), SD14s built in Sunderland. P&O also built 6 ships in Stocznia Gdansk, Poland (the Strath*E*s) and 2 ships in Japan (the Strath*F*s) and bought into DOT, a naval shipping company. In 1975, P&O established Pandoro for operation of the company's Irish Sea RO-RO routes. Pandoro
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#17330845795481122-602: The Hillman Hunter 3rd. Then Staepelaere's Taunus hit a gate post, breaking a track rod. This left Cowan in second position and Paddy Hopkirk 's Austin 1800 in third place. Approaching the Nowra checkpoint at the end of the penultimate stage with only 98 miles (158 km) to Sydney, the Frenchmen were involved in a head-on collision with a motorist who mistakenly entered a closed course, wrecking their Citroën DS and hospitalising
1173-674: The Iberian Peninsula and in 1840 they acquired a contract to deliver mail to Alexandria in Egypt. Brindisi, Italy was added to the route in the 1870s. P&O first introduced passenger services in 1844, with a leisure cruise departing from Southampton to the Mediterranean . These voyages were the first of their kind and the forerunner of modern cruise holidays . The company later introduced round trips to destinations such as Alexandria and Constantinople and underwent rapid expansion in
1224-668: The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company was incorporated in 1840 by a royal charter its name therefore included neither " plc " nor " Limited ". The company flag colours are directly connected with the Peninsular flags: the white and blue represent the Portuguese flag in 1837, and the yellow and red the Spanish flag . At the height of the Carlist Wars the British lent their support to
1275-472: The coast of Zeebrugge with 80 crew and 459 passengers aboard. 193 were killed in the capsizing. The operator of the ship, Townsend Thoresen , had been purchased by P&O in 1986. The incident resulted in a coroner's inquest and a public inquiry. A jury at the coroner's inquest found a prima facie case that the company was guilty of manslaughter , and the Crown Prosecution Service charged
1326-660: The company and seven employees (see corporate manslaughter ). The charges did not result in any convictions. As part of the public inquiry, Lord Justice Sheen wrote in a July 1987 report that Townsend Thoresen (the company) possessed a "disease of sloppiness" which permeated the company's hierarchy. The cases surrounding the incident set a precedent for the prosecution of corporations in cases of manslaughter and criminal negligence in English law . On 23 October 2000 P&O divested its cruise business to form P&O Princess Cruises . In April 2003 P&O Princess came together with
1377-714: The company's ships were sunk in the First World War and 179 in the Second World War. After 1945, the passenger market declined to India, but boomed to Australia with the advent of paid-passages for literate and healthy European immigrants known as Ten Pound Poms . P&O built 15 large passenger liners, including Himalaya , Chusan , Arcadia , and Iberia , culminating in Oriana and Canberra , which were an unprecedented speed and size. By 1968, over 1 million immigrants had arrived—many via P&O—and Australia ended
1428-400: The driver who had the quickest combined time being crowned champion. In pouring rain, Sears became the first ever champion by 1.6 seconds. He regained the title in 1963, driving a variety of cars including a Ford Cortina GT , a seven-litre Ford Galaxie and a Lotus Cortina , which was used for the final two races. Sears also co-drove a Ferrari 330 LMB with Mike Salmon to a fifth place in
1479-523: The end of the Asian section in Bombay , with Simo Lampinen 's Ford Taunus second and Lucien Bianchi 's DS21 in third. However, once into Australia, Clark suffered several setbacks. A piston failure dropped him to third, and would have cost him a finish had he not been able to cannibalise fellow Ford Motor Company driver Eric Jackson's car for parts. After repairs were effected, he suffered what should have been
1530-479: The first fourteen days, the competitors would be loaded on to the Antonovs for the trip to northern Thailand , driving south through the country and into Malaysia for twelve days before being flown to Australia for the last eight days of the rally. Of the 100 starters who left London 78 reached Sydney, with Stig Blomqvist and Ben Rainsford scoring victory ahead of Michèle Mouton in a Porsche 911 , whose co-driver
1581-510: The following evening. Any repairs attempted on the car during the voyage would lead to the crew's exclusion. Roger Clark established an early lead through the first genuinely treacherous leg, from Sivas to Erzincan in Turkey, averaging almost 60 mph (100 km/h) in his Lotus Cortina for the 170 miles (270 km) stage. Despite losing time in Pakistan and India , he maintained his lead to
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1632-601: The incumbent shippers, Jardines and the Apcar Line . Mail contracts were the basis of P&O's prosperity until the Second World War , but the company also continued to become a major commercial shipping line and passenger liner operator. In 1914, it took over the British India Steam Navigation Company , which was then the largest British shipping line, owning 131 steamers. In 1918, it gained
1683-485: The intent to interfere with the change. On 9 March 2006, DP World agreed to sell its terminal operations at the American ports to an American company. On 11 December 2006 it was announced that AIG Global Investment Group, a division of insurance giant AIG , had acquired P&O Ports North America for an undisclosed sum. Investing in infrastructure had become the latest "hot" item for financial firms, and P&O represented
1734-741: The last quarter of the Twentieth Century P&;O diversified into construction management (through the Bovis companies, which it owned from 1974 to 1999), property investment and development, and a variety of service businesses including exhibition and conference centres, but most of these activities were disposed of following the company's decision in March 1999 to concentrate on maritime and transport. Its P&O Ports and P&O Cold Logistics divisions developed from P&O's operations in Australia, where it has
1785-536: The later half of the 19th century, with its ships becoming larger and more luxurious. One particularly notable ship of the era was the SS Ravenna , built in 1880, which became the first ship to be built with a total steel superstructure. In 1847, shortly after the Opium War , P&O entered the opium trade; shipping 642,000 chests of Bengal and Malwa opium in the next eleven years. They faced stiff competition from
1836-459: The legitimate heirs of Spain and Portugal and all three P&O founders played their part, from gun running to chartering steamers. As a consequence of this association and involvement P&O officers are some of the few Merchant Navy officers entitled to wear swords, alongside the likes of Trinity House . In 1837, the business won a contract from the British Admiralty to deliver mail to
1887-721: The merger was approved by the US government in February 2006, the Bush Administration came under fire from critics who questioned the decision to allow an Arab-owned company to oversee US ports. The move placed the leasehold interests of P&O in New York City , Newark , Baltimore , Miami , New Orleans , and Philadelphia under the control of Dubai Ports World. US operations represent ten percent of P&O's worldwide operations, and consist primarily of cranes and terminals. Many US politicians and media commentators assumed implicitly that
1938-496: The merger would affect port security at ports that P&O either managed or handled the loading and unloading of ships. David Osler, Industrial Shipping Editor of Lloyd's List said that US security procedures and overall port control would not be affected by the transaction. Several US states sought ways to block the move, citing security concerns as well as the possibility of losing related leases of foreign ports. President Bush stated he would veto any legislation created with
1989-476: The original route was retraced. Also, the old scheduled open road sections were replaced with more modern timed special stages for safety reasons. Finally, with the demise of the great passenger liners there would be no great voyage across the Indian Ocean to Australia, Brittan instead negotiating for two Antonov An-124 cargo planes to take the vehicles to Australia. The winning driver was Francis Tuthill in
2040-449: The pair. Hopkirk, the first driver on the scene (ahead of Cowan on the road, but behind on penalties) stopped to tend to the injured and extinguish the flames in the burning cars. Andrew Cowan, next on the scene, also slowed but was waved through with the message that everything was under control. Hopkirk rejoined the rally, and neither he nor Cowan lost penalties in this stage. So Andrew Cowan , who had requested "a car to come last" from
2091-478: The programme. P&O entered the cruise market and began to sell and scrap many of these liners. It concentrated mainly on cargo ships . It entered the tanker trade in 1959 and the roll-on roll-off (RORO) ferry business in the mid-1960s. P&O and Orient Line were formally merged in 1960 to form P&O-Orient Lines. In 1964, Orcades and Oronsay were transferred to the P&;O fleet. The name Orient Line
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2142-525: The remaining OCL partners, renaming the operation P&O Containers Limited (P&OCL). P&OCL was merged with Nedlloyd in 1996 to form P&O Nedlloyd . With the development of low-cost air travel and the rising operating costs of ocean liners in the 1970s, P&O refocused its passenger operations on cruise ships. This culminated in the foundation of the subsidiary company P&O Cruises in 1977, under which P&O carried out its subsequent passenger operations. In 1972, P&O formally absorbed
2193-632: The same car as the first time, having his Hillman Hunter loaned to him by the Scottish Automobile Club museum, while other competitors drove pre-1970 era cars. The entry fee was £ 12,900, and the estimated cost of participating was put at £45,000. The 16,000 km rally had three major differences to its ancestor. First, the changing political climate in the Middle East meant that several countries such as Iran and Afghanistan were now out of bounds, although in Europe, Turkey and Australia much of
2244-603: Was 1993 winner Francis Tuthill . Rick Bates and Jenny Brittan in another 911 took third. The third re-run was a combination of modern Group N (showroom-class) cars, and pre-1977 classics, all limited to two wheel drive and a sub-two-litre engine. New Zealand, in tandem with Lincolnshire , England race-preparation specialists Langworth Motorsport, scored a 1–2–3 podium clean sweep with three Kiwi-piloted Honda Integras ; overall winners Joe McAndrew and Murray Cole, runners-up Mike Montgomery and Roy Wilson, and Shane Murland and John Benton in third. The highest-placed classic car
2295-530: Was a Ford Escort RS1600 driven by Britain's Anthony Ward and Mark Solloway, which finished sixth overall. Ten years later a sixth Marathon was run. Differing from its five predecessors it was run in the reverse direction, starting in Sydney and travelling to London with an airlift linking the west coast of Australia to Turkey. Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company P&O (in full, The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company )
2346-438: Was a British shipping and logistics company dating from the early 19th century. Formerly a public company , it was sold to DP World in March 2006 for £3.9 billion. DP World currently operates several P&O branded businesses, P&O Ferries , Istithmar P&O Estates , and P&O Maritime Logistics . It also operates P&O Heritage, which is the official historic archive and collection of P&O. P&O Cruises
2397-565: Was an acronym for P and O Ro . In 1998 P&O European Ferries (Irish Sea) Ltd was formed by the internal merger of Pandoro Ltd. and P&O European (Felixstowe) Ltd., to run the Irish Sea routes. In 1987, P&O took over the European Ferries Group Plc —to which it had previously sold its cross channel ferry services in 1985—which traded as Townsend Thoresen , and renamed the company P&O European Ferries. Over
2448-415: Was dropped altogether in 1966 when Orsova and Oriana were also transferred to the P&O fleet. In 1969, British and Commonwealth Shipping , Furness Withy , P&O and The Ocean Steamship Company established Overseas Containers Limited (OCL) to exploit containerisation . By the early 1980s, it had converted all of its dry cargo liner routes to container operations and in 1986 it bought out
2499-427: Was initially suggested the champion would be decided by the toss of a coin. The idea was very unpopular with both drivers and at the final meeting at Brands Hatch , with a draw being a likely possibility, two identical looking Marcus Chambers-owned Riley One-Point-Five works rally cars were brought along for a five lap shoot-out. To make the race fair, they raced five laps, switched cars, then raced five laps again with
2550-577: Was later (June 2005) purchased by A.P. Moller-Maersk Group . On Sunday 30 October 2005 The Sunday Times reported that P&O was in takeover talks with Thunder FZE, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dubai Ports World , a company owned by the government of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates . On 29 November, the P&O board announced that it would be recommending an offer of 443 pence per share, worth £3.3 billion ( US$ 5.7 billion) to its shareholders. In early December P&O regained its status as
2601-405: Was sold in 2000, and is now owned and operated by Carnival Corporation & plc , although the trademark for "P&O Cruises" is still held by the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company and used under licence. The former shipping business, P&O Nedlloyd , was bought by and is now part of Maersk Line . In 1822, Brodie McGhie Willcox , a London ship broker , and Arthur Anderson ,
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