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Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

Part of UK in Austria

29th March 2019 Vienna, Austria

Vienna to Bratislava: a very British journey

What is British and travels from Vienna to Bratislava?

The answer is the new “Twin City Liner”, a catamaran built by the Wight’s shipyard in the Isle of Wight, which starts a new service along the Danube between Vienna and Bratislava on 29 March.

I was delighted to be invited before the launch of the new service to the “baptism” of the new vessel on the Danube.  It is a magnificent machine: 39 metres long, with a capacity of 250 passengers and a top speed of 60 kilometres per hour.  We were joined on a brief inaugural run by the Mayor of Vienna, Michael Ludwig, and Peter Morton, founder and CEO of Wight & Co shipyard.

I found the experience terrific, and a potent symbol of the UK’s manufacturing prowess and continued links with Europe.  The sale of the vessel to Vienna was the first export order (they also build catamarans for use on the Thames) and has been followed by two orders for Mexico.  They are about to announce the sale of a further four orders to Europe.  Good business.

I look forward to doing the run to Bratislava on the Twin City Liner in future!

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About Leigh Turner

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of…

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of the UN and other organisations; stories here will reflect that.

About me: I arrived in Vienna in August 2016 for my second posting in this wonderful city, having first served here in the mid-1980s. My previous job was as HM Consul-General and Director-General for Trade and Investment for Turkey, Central Asia and South Caucasus based in Istanbul.

Further back: I grew up in Nigeria, Exeter, Lesotho, Swaziland and Manchester before attending Cambridge University 1976-79. I worked in several government departments before joining the Foreign Office in 1983.

Keen to go to Africa and South America, I’ve had postings in Vienna (twice), Moscow, Bonn, Berlin, Kyiv and Istanbul, plus jobs in London ranging from the EU Budget to the British Overseas Territories.

2002-6 I was lucky enough to spend four years in Berlin running the house, looking after the children (born 1992 and 1994) and doing some writing and journalism.

To return to Vienna as ambassador is a privilege and a pleasure. I hope this blog reflects that.

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