A Kilmarnock couple took part in a record-breaking feat on their holiday.
Former Kilmarnock Standard chief reporter Alex Milligan and his wife Marilyn were on a cruise ship when the daring attempt was made.
Their boat, the Fred Olsen MS Braemar, became the largest vessel to ever pass through the narrow Corinth Canal in Greece.
And to say there was not much room to spare is a bit of an understatement.
The canal is 24.6 metres at its narrowest point, while Braemar is 22 metres wide – not a lot of room for the captain to play with.
Alex and Marilyn were part of a small band of Scots who took part in the historic moment along with 927 passengers and 371 crew.
Alex told the Kilmarnock Standard: “That was the highlight of the 25-day cruise out of Southampton that visited ports in Spain, Malta, Italy and Portugal, as well as half a dozen Greek Islands.
“While the concept of a canal was first mooted some 2500 years ago – around 600BC – the narrow waterway wasn’t completed until 1893. It enables ships in the Aegean Sea travelling to the Adriatic to cut 185 nautical miles off their journey.
“At 24,344 gross tonnes and 195.82 metres in length, the ship broke the previous record to become the largest vessel ever to travel through the canal.
“At times the cruise liner was so close to the sides of the 6.4 kilometre-long canal those on deck could almost reach out and touch them.
“Passengers crowded on to the decks for the record-breaking passage, some rising at 5am to make sure they had a prime viewing spot.
“The journey took just one hour and 15 minutes to complete its passage through the canal, painstakingly inching its way through, with little room to spare on each side.
Captain Jozo Glavic admitted that the transit had gone more smoothly than he had expected and paid tribute to the two tugboats at the ship’s fore and aft and the three Corinth Canal pilots who were on board to help Braemar through the narrow channel that links the Ionian and Aegean Seas.
Alex added: “Needless to say, it was the main talking point for everyone for a few days afterwards.
“And to mark the occasion each passenger on board received a personalised certificate from the cruise company bearing the words: ‘I made history with Fred Olsen Cruise Lines when I cruised the Corinth Canal’.”
