High school students step on board for a maritime career

On Tuesday, June 25, he joined 39 other year 10 students from Newcastle and Lake Macquarie schools for the Float your Boat program at Wickham.

"I've always been into boats, I love it. I go out fishing all the time," the 16-year-old Whitebridge High School student said.

The initiative is part of the Regional Industry Education Partnerships (RIEP) program, which encourages students to pursue maritime school-based apprenticeships or traineeships as part of their HSC.

"This is something I want to pursue as a career, hopefully I'll get a job on the tugs one day as a master," Koby said.

From touring tugboats at Svitzer and navigating the vessel through an AI simulator, students learned from industry leaders including the Water Police, Maritime and Safety Training (MAST), Newcastle Ferries and Fishing Co-op.

St Mary's Catholic College Gateshead student Chloe Hillard said using the AI simulator was an incredible experience as she steered a tugboat from Newcastle harbour and through the heads.

"It was really cool, it feels so real and you can actually feel the boat move with the swell," she said.

"I just think this is a really great opportunity, especially for the girls."

Chloe hopes to pursue a career in the maritime industry, and fortunately Svitzer is looking to offer two school-based traineeships to students who attended the day.

Svitzer training manager Dan O'Brien said the on-site visit was an introduction to a maritime career.

"We found very much that talking about a process doesn't work what we need to do is actually show them the process - from how the vessels work, the engines to the winches," he said.

"We have put our hand up to take on two school-based trainees next year with the support of some other businesses."

Careers in maritime can include cargo shipping, shipbuilding, tugboat towing, ferries, cruise ships and offshore operations.