April 27, 2011

New Zealand-born Captain Christopher Rynd has been appointed Commodore of the Cunard Line fleet, comprising Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria.

Well known to New Zealand and Australian cruise passengers, Captain Rynd now shares his land time between Australia and Britain and has served as a captain for both P&O Cruises Australia and Princess Cruises. During his time with the two cruise lines he commanded Royal Princess, Regal Princess, the first and second Pacific Princess, Pacific Sky and Sapphire Princess.

He was also Captain of Cunard’s flagship Queen Mary 2 when she made her headline-making inaugural visits to Australia and New Zealand in February 2007 during her maiden world voyage.

Captain Rynd was born in New Zealand and grew up in Singapore, Sri Lanka, and in the islands of Fiji and Samoa. He began his sea career in 1970 at the age of 17 in New Zealand.

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Captain Rynd assumes the title until recently held by Commodore Bernard Warner who retired from Cunard on April 19, 2011.

Announcing the appointment, Cunard President and Managing Director Peter Shanks paid tribute to the outgoing Commodore Bernard Warner.

“I must put on record our appreciation for the ‘marvellous’ contribution that Bernie made to Cunard Line,” Mr Shanks said. “We wish him and his family all the best for his retirement.”

Mr Shanks said he was delighted with the appointment of Captain Rynd as Commodore of Cunard Line.

“I am sure that many of our regular guests will be as pleased as I and will join me in congratulating him on this notable achievement.”

Captain Rynd joined Cunard in 2005 when he took command of Queen Elizabeth 2. While on QE2, he came to appreciate Cunard’s distinctive product and traditions. Since then he has commanded both Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria. He took Queen Mary 2 on her maiden world voyage and attended the Queen Victoria during her construction and sea trials and later proudly served as her master.

Captain Rynd’s first passenger liner was P&O’s Oronsay, which he joined following his cadetship. His early sea days were in P&O vessels on routes between Australia and the UK which also included cruising. Since then, most of his career has been in passenger cruise ships on worldwide itineraries. Additionally Captain Rynd expanded his experience with eight years as a reserve officer in the British Royal Navy. He gained his qualification as Master in London in 1979.

He was elected a Fellow of the Nautical Institute, the international professional body for maritime professionals, in 2008 and he took time out in 2009/2010 to work as a coach under the auspices of the Company’s training facility, ‘CSmart’, in the Netherlands. This was an opportunity to travel in ships across the corporate fleets and be involved in the introduction of new procedures that enhance the safe operations in navigating ships.

Captain Rynd and his Australian wife Julie, have three children who are now young adults, which allows Julie to accompany her husband at sea most of the time. When not at sea they spend time in both Britain and Australia, and visit New Zealand each year to hike and fish trout.

ENDS

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