Page 76 - Maritime Book 1

IT WAS WRITTEN IN THE STARS
CAPTAIN BRYNN ADAMSON HARBOUR MASTER: PORT OF PORT ELIZABETH
"We didn't know how far we would go in achieving the transformation of the industry. We were the instruments to make it happen."
Born of a maritime family, as the son of a skipper on a shing boat in Port Elizabeth, Captain Adamson was always interested in everything to do with the sea. As a youngster he was a lifeguard and a naval cadet, and planned to join the navy, possibly as a diver, when he left school.
“By the time I matriculated, my dad had passed
on and my mom was keen for me to follow in his footsteps. I had no clue about the commercial side of the industry, but Portnet was offering bursaries to previously disadvantaged individuals who had the right credentials. Captain Jones, who was a year ahead of me, created the interest and I went to nd out more and ended up being accepted
to do a bridging course at Wing eld Technical College at the naval base in Cape Town with a group of about twenty including Captain Lekala.
“I realised I could make a success of this and began applying myself and having passed the bridging course, was given a bursary to do maritime studies at the Cape Peninsula Technikon.
“As a group, we grew up together, struggled together, studied and travelled together, then went off to sea as Cadets, which shaped us into the people we are today. We were exposed to
of cers of different nationalities who put us through our paces and we passed the test, which prepared us for the tough times ahead.
“A huge milestone for all of us was getting our Class 3 Certi cates of Competency – our tickets to success! What we didn’t know at the time
was just how far we would go in achieving the transformation of the industry,” he said.
Captain Adamson took every opportunity to advance his career, including the marine pilot training bridging course in Rotterdam along with his peers.
“When we came back to get our practical experience, we worked under an older generation of marine pilots, who considered that we had a ‘lesser’ quali cation. It was tough. We had to ght for opportunities and prove ourselves over and over again.
“I loved the job with all its challenges and went on to get my open licence . There is no better job in the world than being a marine pilot. Everyday is different. You have to work with different vessel power, different wind speed and direction, deep ships, light ships, with tugs and without tugs. You learn more as you go and improve with experience,
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