Charlotte Gifford
What do you do?
As a Marine Information Officer I am the communicator between the
Harbour Authority and the local ship’s agents. A ship’s agent
acts on behalf of a vessel to arrange and be responsible for all of the
requirements that the ship will need while in port. The Harbour Authority is
legally responsible for operating and managing all river traffic to ensure the
safe navigation of all vessels transiting the river – in my case, the River
Humber, River Trent and River Ouse. As part of this obligation to ensure safe
navigation, the Harbour Authority is required to provide a marine pilotage
service, whereby a qualified Master Mariner with great knowledge and experience
of the local waterways will be required by law to go onboard vessels and advise
the ship’s Captain on how to navigate safely. Pilotage is one of the services
that a ship’s agent is responsible for arranging, and as such they will
communicate their requirements to me and I will allocate suitably qualified
Marine Pilots on behalf of the Harbour Master. Once an agent has booked a
pilot, it is also my responsibility to collate all of the vessel movements into
our computer database. From this, we can determine which pilots we will
allocate to different vessels depending on the size and navigational
requirements of the ship, as well as decide what time we will muster the Pilot
to provide the service. Mustering the Pilots is the single most important part
of my role because if I don’t notify them in due time that they have been
allocated for a particular job, they won’t be able to provide the service! The
river operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and we work hard
to maintain that complete time coverage. We work a combination of 12 and 9
hours shifts to ensure full 24 hour coverage is provided every single day of
the year. Working long hours – particularly overnight – can be tiring, but there
is generous off-duty time to recover and a competitive salary, starting at
£21,000.
What does a typical day at work look like?
My responsibilities slightly vary depending on whether I’m working a day
or night shift, but all shifts will start with a formal handover from the
off-going team. Handovers are really important for the people starting their
shift, as they need to obtain a clear picture of everything that has happened
over the last 12 hours in a very short and concise manner. I know that at the
end of my shift I will be delivering a handover myself, so I’ll always make
notes throughout the day of anything I think the next shift team will need to
know. I spend time responding to emails as well as focusing on our integrated
database PAVIS – Ports and Vessel Information System. This database holds all
information of the planned vessel movements on the river. The system is used by
many different departments within the company, such as Port Operations and
Accounts, so it’s crucial that we keep everything as up to date as we can so
that those in planning roles are making informed decisions and those in the
accounts team can be confident they are invoicing customers correctly for the
services provided. I will also be calling Marine Pilots to work at the
designated time as well as coordinating their transport to and from the
vessels. This will be a combination of either launch boat to get offshore, or
by moving around our fleet of cars for shoreside transportation. In addition to
this, we also broadcast a radio service every 90 minutes for the pilots to
listen to. This enables the pilots to determine which job they are likely to
get and so can plan their day – or sleep – accordingly. In addition to all of
this, if I’m working a night shift I will also be responsible for preparing a
number of reports. Once the clock has struck midnight, we can gather all the
information of everything that has happened the previous 24 hours and put it
into a report so that our management team can have a concise overview of the
previous day’s activity.
How did you get to where you are?
I started in the shipping industry when I did work experience with a
ship’s agency firm during my year 10 of secondary school. After just 2 weeks I
knew it was the industry for me, so I worked a summer job in the Company’s
accounts department during the school holidays of years 10 and 11. I started
working for the Company on a full time basis once I turned 17 and had passed my
driving test, working on a three year training programme to give me experience
in the accounts department, the Research Team where I assisted in the
generation and distribution of specialised intelligence reports, before transferring
to the Customs Clearance team, which made for great training before finally
moving into the Agency Operations team to learn and become a qualified Ship’s
Agent. Once qualified, I then spent a further 2 years covering a variety of
operations around the UK as well as remotely coordinating overseas operations
via the global Hub-Agency team. After 5 years with the Company the opportunity
arose to join Associated British Ports to use the experience I had gained to
further develop my shipping career.
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
A natural benefit of working on the River Humber is living on the coast.
I was born and raised in Grimsby so have been able to spend much of my free
time at the beach. As a child it was amazing to live a few miles away from the
sandy beach, slot machines and sweet stalls. Now I’m in my 20s and it’s still a
joy! While I do still love the arcades, these days I like to attend exercise
classes at the beach. It’s a great way to get outdoors, and you can see all the
commercial vessels transiting the river while you exercise – you don’t need to
be this geeky to be a good Marine Information Officer but it helps! I also
really enjoy cooking and find it a good way to de-stress after a busy day; you
get to chill out and have some delicious food at the end of it which is always
a winner. I think it’s really important to know how best to spend your
down-time for yourself, though this will be different for everyone. Whether
it’s yoga, dancing, seeing friends or just sitting and watching a movie,
knowing how to recharge and keep a smile on your face is absolutely crucial in
such a busy world. And just because someone tells you it’s good for you doesn’t
mean it is – I’ve tried running and unless it’s to or from something that my
life depends on, I think I’d just prefer a steady stroll thank you…