Member Profile: Captain James London

AIMS members share their thoughts and experiences in the industry. This edition we profile industry veteran Captain James London.

How long have you been involved in the industry?
Fifty years.

Where do you work now?
I have worked for the past twenty years in Mackay and environs.

What were you doing previously?
I was in the last intake of boy sailors to the RAN at 15 years of age after having been at boarding school since I was 7 years old.  At 16 I was apprenticed to Eastern & Australian SS Co Ltd and after serving four years on Company vessels sat & passed my 2^nd Mates FG. I then served with RW Miller Tankers until deciding I missed my American girlfriend too much and flew to the States to marry her.

We had no money after the honeymoon (in a motel opposite the San Francisco Zoo) so with some help from a friend I managed to join the US Navy on an emergency wartime basis. I served in USNS UPSHUR (a troop carrier) and USNS BRETON (an escort carrier) ferrying troops and aircraft to Saigon and Cam Rahn Bay in South Vietnam.

I returned to Australia on the SS ORIANA with my new wife in 1968 and remember well staying the first night in the Edgecliff Motel. Thieves broke into the underground garage and stole all our belongings from our parked car. All that remained was one small suitcase that we had taken up to the room the previous day.

Two weeks later we found out, my wife was pregnant with our first child.

I sued the Motel for the loss of our luggage and finally received compensation of $1200 - two years later.

I returned to the sea with Union SS Coy., and then after the birth of our child, swallowed the Anchor and came ashore. I became a Trainee Credit Manager with Goodyear Tyre Service in Sydney and soon after was transferred to Dubbo for three months and then finally to Orange (the previous Credit Manager had been tickling the till).

Within a year I started my own business, a wholesaler selling brown and white goods to retailers over a third of NSW. In 1973 I sold our business and returned to my Maritime roots.

I took a permanent position as third mate on the MV BULKNES (trading between Gladstone and Bluff in NZ). The vessel had half Australian and half New Zealand crew. This led to having thirteen different Trade Unions on board a living nightmare for all but the Kiwis, as they were being paid Australian wages! During this period I obtained both my Mates and Masters FG Certificates and became Chief Officer in 1978.

In 1983 I was absorbed into the TNT Coy as a Chief Officer. They built three specialist vessels to service the Bauxite & Alumina trade between Gladstone, Weipa, Bluff and Tasmania, namely two bulk carriers and one self-discharging bulk vessel.

In 1986 the management of the three vessels was then given to ASP which then allowed me to serve in a greater number of vessels and I became Master soon after. In 1993 I was offered a licence as a Pilot in the Great Barrier Reef by the Marine Board of Queensland which I promptly took up and joined Queensland Coastal Pilots.

In 1996 along with two other licensed GBR Pilots we formed a Company to service Hydrographers Passage from Mackay. We progressively purchased Helicopters and employed other Sea Pilots to grow the business. By 2003 the Company was employing six pilots and servicing forty vessels per month. In 2005 I was the only original partner remaining as a working pilot and I subsequently sold the Company.

In 1998 we also purchased a Marine Surveyor’s business from the ex-harbourmaster of Mackay (Red Faulkner) which was then servicing Fishing Boats and recreational vessels in the area. After selling the Pilotage Company, I continued to carry out Surveys in the Mackay area until semi- retirement.      

What made you decide to enter the profession?
My Great/Great Grandfather and my Grandfather were both Masters FG and my Father was a career soldier. I expect it is in my genes.

What do you enjoy most about the industry?
My area of Surveying is in the recreational field which entails more often than not a personal one on one experience with the client. I am fortunate in being able to meet people of all abilities from all walks of life, including the very wealthy or those with nothing but their boat (home) and the clothes they are wearing. Most of them have interesting stories to tell, where they have been or where they are going.

I have met guys who are gals, gals who would be guys and all in between. They all have the one thing in common; they love the challenge of the sea. 

How has surveying changed in the last 10 years?
The recreational Industry is controlled by the Insurance Companies and to a lesser extent the Safety Regulators. In the past they have both been relaxed about the Rules that govern their existence. However recent Cyclones and the damage that has been caused to recreational vessels, has ensured that much more stringent inspections & regulations are becoming the Norm.

In particular the larger Insurance Companies are insisting on Surveyors being properly qualified with Professional Indemnity and Quality Assurance.

Shipwrights are a dying breed and their successors Boat Builders do not generally have the same grounding which was acceptable to become a Marine Surveyor. 

What do you see as the biggest challenges the industry faces?
The Regulators in Australia are relying on the Private Surveyors in Industry to become the future AMSA/State Inspectors/Surveyors. This has taken place in the Domestic Commercial Vessel (DCV) area, whereby at last count there are now over 180 Attested AMSA Private Surveyors.

A greater proportion of these Surveyors are already in their senior years and they were attested prior to the new rules for Private Surveyors came into being on 2nd January, 2015.

Why would you at your age and with your vast experience undertake the Diploma of Marine Surveying?

Whilst I have practiced my profession in many facets of the Maritime Industry, I believe that Marine Surveyors are specialised Mariners. This is particularly true in the knowledge required in design, construction, safe operations and regulations that are relevant to both Domestic Commercial and Recreational vessels in Australia.

I am now convinced that the Diploma is the only way to expand the knowledge that I gained on my path to a Master Class 1 qualification, to a point where I can legitimately claim the title of Marine Surveyor.   

Have you learned anything new from the experience of doing study again?The Diploma is specific to a Marine Surveyor’s requirements and encourages me to learn more and indeed understand that one can never know too much about a chosen career.

I have also learnt that the Regulators have some way to go before the new DCV Regulations are pertinent to the Industry.

Are there any benefits to undertaking study and professional development?The benefits are that we can keep pace with the rest of our own Industry. The Diploma needs to be the pre-eminent qualification for the specialisation of becoming a Marine Surveyor in Australia.

As we surely will lose the experience of the Masters and Mates Certificate and the Marine Engineers qualifications due to the demise of Australian Shipping, we must ensure that there is a valid future pathway to maintain the Marine Surveyors section of the Australian Maritime Industry.