Sailing a different course

Port of Halifax’s Parsons discusses his maritime heritage and route to becoming a Harbour Master.

Captain Adam Parsons, Director Marine Operations and Harbour Master at the Port of Halifax, grew up surrounded by the rich maritime heritage of Newfoundland and Labrador.

“I used to see the ferry come and go several times a day. My grandfather was a Captain on the ferries, transporting people and goods from Newfoundland to Nova Scotia. Because of that connection, I always wanted a career in the maritime industry.”

That being the case, while his father and brothers all had backgrounds in legal disciplines, Adam chose a different route, pursuing a four-year business studies course.

“At the age of 21, I decided to go back to college and enrolled at St. John’s Marine Institute in Newfoundland. It was the best decision I ever made.”

Gaining experience

Adam’s course in Nautical Science spanned four years. The course included a minimum of 1.5 years at sea, gaining hands-on experience.

When he had completed his studies, Adam took a job on an oil tanker, which led to a career in the offshore energy sector as a dynamic positioning operator (DPO), including several years with Seadrill.

“All of the time though, I still had my grandfather in mind and still wanted to become a Master Mariner. So, in the background I continued my education. Every time I came ashore, I took exams.

“My circumstances changed, though, when my family continued to grow in size and number. My wife deserved the opportunity to continue her career path in addition to the support in raising our young family. This was the reason I decided to pursue a management role onshore. So, I dusted off my résumé – I’d had some experience on land by then, project managing dry docking projects. I knew a little about a lot of different things. I knew about the vessel side of port operations, but needed to learn the land-based side.”

Coming ashore

Adam secured what he describes as a ‘good role’ as Port Marine Manager in the Port of Halifax. “I was already undertaking many of the tasks of a Harbour Master, but without the title.”

However, in 2019, changes were coming in the form of new port CEO and former IHMA President Allan Gray, along with Mike Davie, VP Operations, Technology and Sustainability.

“Allan and Mike arrived at the port around the same time. Both played an integral role in me finding my way into the Harbour Master position. They noticed that Halifax was without a Harbour Master and felt that, based on my background, I would be a good fit for the role.”

International network
As well as taking on the role of Harbour Master, Adam also became a member of the IHMA and began to attend the biannual conferences.

“I quickly began to benefit from the IHMA’s network. This is one of the great things about the association. Whether it was the many service providers who attend the events, or fellow Harbour Masters who experienced the same challenges in their daily work, I met a lot of people who could support us.

Keeping things on the move

“This was extremely helpful when we wanted to set up our own port management system, for example. The information we were able to access through the IHMA and its membership really benefitted us. It helped us, for example, to put in place all the processes and procedures to audit our performance. It’s really helped to improve the safety of our operations.

“Of course, what has also helped us is our very talented and hard-working team – the colleagues who make the Port of Halifax such a great place to work and keep things moving forward. We were lucky to find such a talented group in our Operations centre, and they have the benefit of learning from our experienced and forward-thinking Deputy Harbour Master, Captain Corey Gleason.”