Our Story
Established in 2019 The Aussie Seafarer was a passion project created by Jordan to share his obsession of the sea with his friends and family.
It has since grown into an online platform aimed to help individuals around the world get into and develop their careers at sea.
As soon as I found out I could get paid to sail ships around the world, I knew there was nothing I wanted more. Knowing absolutely nothing of what I was getting myself into, I started pushing every avenue I could find towards becoming a seafarer. At that time there was very little information available as I browsed the internet looking for answers, leading me to into an industry in which I knew nothing.
As I came to my final years of high school, I took a up a job at a local marina in the hope of learning more about boats and getting my foot in the door into the maritime industry. Here I drove and cleaned (mostly cleaned) house boats as well as learnt a bit about boats and ropes through the older staff as well as locals living on their boats at the marina.
I vividly recall a conversation with the high school careers advisor who had a very empty look on her face when I told her what I wanted to do. Having no idea how she could help me, she asked me “what would be your plan B if all the seas and oceans were to dry up?” to which I replied “I think we’d probably all be dead!”. It would be fair to say I was on my own from there.
As soon as I finished high school I undertook the Pre-Sea Deck understudy at the Australian Maritime College in Tasmania where I learnt that I needed to be sponsored by a commercial shipping company in order to obtain the required sea-time to go along with the study to become a Deck Watch-keeper. With the crash of the mining boom and the fall of the Australian shipping industry right around the time that I was looking to enter the industry, obtaining a cadetship was a near impossible task.
I moved back to Sydney where I took on a labouring job in a small workshop before flying to Western Australia to work as a deck hand on small boats out of the Port of Dampier. From here I was able to network and make contacts within the industry which ultimately landed me a cadetship back on the east coast of Australia.
Sailing more than half way around Australia, visiting various ports all the way from Geraldton in Western Australia, all the way across to Sydney, Brisbane and Gladstone all the way to Weipa in far north Queensland, as well as a number of trips to China and New Zealand, I was fortunate enough to explore a wide variation of ports and seas as a cadet. Through this time as a cadet I sailed with a vast number of crews and captains where I was able to learn a great deal about the industry which I was unable to find as I ventured into the industry.
In Mid 2020, I was able to sit and pass my Deck Watch-keeper Oral exam, leading to my current qualification of Deck Watchkeeper. With this qualification I am able to sail as a 2nd or 3rd officer on any ship. This is merely a stepping stone for me in my overall goal of becoming a Master Mariner, which will allow me to sail in Command as a Captain of any ship.