A former Navy navigator who has circumnavigated the globe, enjoyed life on the high seas and witnessed the reality of asylum seekers, has scored his dream job in Sunshine Coast waters.
Captain Clint Walters is currently in training to become a marine pilot with Poseidon Sea Pilots as it prepares to expand to the Sunshine Coast.
Growing up with a love for boats, he remembers hitting the high seas as a child with his father, who operated a fishing trawler.
The 37-year-old moved to the Sunshine Coast at age 18, and at 21 joined the Royal Australian Navy where he worked as a specialist navigator for 11 years.
“I’ve always had an interest in the sea. My dad had a couple of fishing trawlers and I used to go out to sea with him when I was a kid,” he told Sunshine Coast News.
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“My first real taste of going on ships was when I joined the Navy.
“Basically, my role was working directly with the captain to ensure the bridge of the boat was operating properly, and planning and executing all the pilotage on those ships.”
After his time in the Navy, Clint worked out of Western Australia on gas export tankers travelling between Karratha and ports in Japan.
More recently, he was captain of a helicopter and navigation trade ship operating out of Sydney.
“In my time I’ve worked internationally and around Australia. I’ve been really lucky and it’s been a really interesting adventure,” he said.
“There’s been some good experiences and some unusual and not so nice ones as well.
“Some of the destinations I’ve been to I’ve been extremely lucky. I’ve been through the Panama Canal, all through the Mediterranean, into London and up the Thames. I’ve sailed into New York and going past the Statue of Liberty on a ship is pretty cool.
“Some of the extremely remote places are just as cool in the Pacific and all around the northwestern Australian coast is very remote.”
Perhaps one of his most interesting roles was as an executive officer of a patrol boat, when Australia had an influx of asylum seekers around 2011.
“I experienced some pretty big highs and lows during that time from various events that went on then,” Clint said.
“It was real. You were able to help people, which was really satisfying but also some of the things that occurred there were tragic as well. It was quite surreal.
“My role varied a lot because every situation was different depending on how it unfolded.
“Your role is to make sure all the procedures are followed and people are handed safely, always with the goal of having the best outcome for everyone.”
Having worked fly-in, fly-out for many years, leaving his wife and three young children at home in Warana for at least six months of the year, Clint said he was thrilled to have landed a job just off his own shores.
“Being from the Coast, to work here has been an ambition of mine for a long time,” he said.
“You work hard but it’s extremely competitive and opportunities like this don’t come up very often, so this is a dream come true.
“Being able to work locally, my kids think it’s unreal.”
Clint (above) has been undergoing “rigorous” training since August with Poseidon’s operations to start on January 1.
As part of his role, he will be delegated the responsibility of safely navigating ships in and out of the Port of Brisbane as well as through the environmental diverse areas of Moreton Bay.
Captains of ships are not allowed to guide their ships into a port, so they are required by law to have a pilot on board who has thorough knowledge of the area and local environment.
“In conjunction with the captain of that ship, you navigate the ship into the port to help it safely arrive at its destination,” he said.
“Moreton Bay is a marine park so that is part of your responsibility to help protect the marine environment and ensure the ship is navigated in a way that poses no risk.”
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Clint said having Poseidon Sea Pilots, which would also operate out of Scarborough and Redcliffe, based at Mooloolaba, was crucial.
“The Sunshine Coast part of what Poseidon do is critical,” he said.
“Just off the beach at Kawana is where every ship is boarded by a marine pilot that goes into Brisbane and where every pilot gets off coming out of Brisbane.
“It’s critical that operation is effective and executed to a very high standard on the Sunshine Coast.”
Mooloolaba will be the main mobilisation centre for crew operating around-the-clock and include 17m berths at Mooloolaba Marina.
It will be home to two new $2.5 million state-of-the-art pilot boats, which will be delivered in December and March.
