Ambassadors

Gordon is a consultant and operates in a ship borne senior leadership role as a Senior Client Representative supervising offshore operations on major offshore wind farms, oil and gas and environmental projects. Gordon is a retired Weapons Engineering Manager of the UK Royal Navy, having served a 19-year career in nuclear submarines on special operations. He has worked across multiple offshore disciplines; Marine construction, pipe, cables, topsides, bridges, UXO, FPSO, subsea infrastructure, telecom submarine cables and has undertaken projects across shallow, coastal and deep offshore project applications. Gordon is married to Sue for 34 years and has two children and two grandchildren.

Born in Kent, John has lived in Scotland since 1981. He joined the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Service in 1974 as an assistant purser before being promoted to First Officer in 1984 and Chief Officer in 1991. Four years later, he served ashore in senior staff officer positions in logistics, and in 2002 as Head of RFA Manpower, Recruitment, Training & Education in the newly-formed Fleet HQ. On promotion to Captain, in 2005 he served in the Logistics Capability Division of Navy Command Headquarters on Whale Island in Portsmouth as Chief Staff Officer. He also became a volunteer ship visitor for Stella Maris. In 2010 he assumed the role of HR Director for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Service before retiring in 2015. Since then, John has been active in the maritime charity sector with The Seafarers’ Charity, Stella Maris and more recently MNWB as chair of the Port Welfare Committee for West and Central Scotland and now an ambassador.

Martin is a Master Mariner and before retiring, was the Harbour Master for the Port of Southampton after having spent a career at sea in the Merchant Navy with over 10 years’ command experience. He also served for over 20 years in the Royal Naval Reserve, obtaining the rank of Commander and specialising in Amphibious Warfare. On leaving the Merchant Navy he joined Associated British Ports Southampton as a Pilot before becoming Harbour Master.  On retirement he now works part time for ABP as a Marine Consultant and is the Designated Person (PMSC) for several large ports.  He is also Chair of the Board’s Southern PWC. Martin, who lives in Hampshire, was elected a Younger Brethren of Trinity House in 2013 and is married with 3 grown up children.

Following an extensive seagoing career as an Engineer in the Merchant Navy, Neil came ashore and worked as a Superintendent Engineer for three years before joining the Marine Safety Agency as a Marine Surveyor in 1994 retiring as a Principal Surveyor in October 2020, after a total of 46 years in the maritime industry. Whilst working for the MCA, Neil was involved in all aspects of the MCA’s work including Flag State surveys and port state control inspections. In 2007, Neil moved to the HQ Inspection Branch and was extensively involved in implementing the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 for the UK. Neil chaired the ILO informal tripartite working group which drafted the Guidelines for Flag State Inspections and is an ILO official trainer for the ILO courses on training of trainers and Maritime Inspectors on the application of the ILO Maritime Labour Convention, 2006. Neil has a keen interest in seafarers’ welfare, chairing the MNWB’s Southern Port Welfare Committee for four years and latterly was a member of the MNWB Council of Management. Neil was awarded the Merchant Navy Medal in 2015 for services to the International Maritime Labour Convention, 2006.

Paul started his career as a Blue Funnel cadet, training as a navigating officer and serving on many vessel types including general cargo, container, ro/ro, and oil tankers, trading worldwide. After obtaining his masters, Paul came ashore in the late 1980s and worked for Caleb Brett, an international cargo inspecting company, mainly involved with quantity and quality of bulk liquids; petroleum products, gases and chemicals with clients throughout Ireland and Scotland. He joined ExxonMobil in the 1990s working as Terminal Controller and Supervisor at their distribution terminals in Belfast, Birmingham and Nottingham. Paul joined the Port of Larne in 2002, then owned and operated by P&O as Port Controller and assisted setting up a Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) within the port. In 2006, he joined Belfast Harbour, progressing to the position of Deputy Harbour Master in 2011. Paul has been involved with the Merchant Navy Welfare Board for over 15 years and has been Chair of its N. Ireland Committee for the past six years.

Trevor’s wide-ranging maritime career has spanned more than 50 years  and he continues to serve as Master with Windstar Cruises. After serving his Deck cadetship with BP Tanker Company, Trevor moved on to work on ro-ro container ships, trading world-wide, before moving in to the short-sea ferry trade around the UK.  During his time with Stena Line, he was promoted to Senior Master of a conventional ship at Holyhead and thereafter, he spearheaded Stena’s adventures into high-speed craft, initiating the original service from Holyhead and, subsequently, becoming the training Master the Stena HSS. With changing opportunities in the ferry sector, Trevor opted to step ashore and develop his own consultancy company, trading successfully for almost 20 years, concentrating on safety and safety training, particularly in the cruise sector and in relation to the Port Marine Safety Code.  He also spent some time working in the ship management sector, as Marine Superintendent and Safety specialist. He is a Chartered Master Mariner and also a Younger Brother of Trinity House.