Master Mariner (Unlimited) STCW II/2.1
Freeman of the Honourable Company of Master Mariners
Member of the Nautical Institute (MNI)
Gordon is a master mariner based in London, providing expert mariner advice and reports on marine casualties and disputes. His work covers collisions, groundings, navigation and vessel manoeuvring, cargo operations, stowage and lashing, mooring, cargo damage, loss and shift, safety management systems, bridge resource management, and charter party performance disputes.
He draws on over twenty years of seagoing, command and fleet management experience across container vessels, bulk carriers and pure car and truck carriers (PCTC). He has held command of container vessels up to 10,000 TEU and of Capesize, Panamax and Handysize bulk carriers, transiting the Suez Canal and calling extensively at Chinese ports.
Ashore, Gordon spent more than a decade in ship management with a large London-based ship owner/manager, latterly as General Fleet Manager responsible for the day-to-day operation of container vessels from 1,700 to 15,000 TEU, bulk carriers and PCTCs. In these roles, he reviewed and approved charter parties, oversaw cargo operations and stowage plans and provided instruction on navigation, ECDIS passage planning, mooring and fleet performance. His bulk cargo experience spans coal, iron ore, bauxite, grains, seed cakes, bagged rice, logs, packaged timber, steel billets, steel coils and copper concentrate, as well as break-bulk and project cargo, including wind turbine blades. Gordon contributed to the update of the 9th Edition of ‘Thomas' Stowage’.
As Designated Person Ashore (DPA) for a fleet of 90 dry cargo vessels, Gordon acted as the 24/7 emergency response contact for masters and assisted in a wide range of major incidents across all vessel types, including groundings, fires, collisions, cargo damage and cargo shift, personal injuries and fatalities, bunker discrepancies and charter party disputes. Earlier in his career, he advised and assisted masters following cargo loss and vessel damage in the North Atlantic, including the emergency response onboard and the successful salvage and disposal of cargo at the port of refuge.
Gordon is experienced with modern bridge systems and ECDIS passage planning. During his seagoing career, he developed a company tailored bridge resource management training course and ballast water management plans for 150 vessels. He served as Safety Superintendent supporting flag-state and charterer inspections and audits, refreshed the company's fire training manuals and developed procedures for fighting container fires, and acted as Company Security Officer planning vessel security measures for transits through high-risk areas.