Latest Trainee Pilot takes to the Esperance waves

After decades at sea, working his way through the ranks as a mariner, Captain Mitch Gimm has embraced the chance to settle in one place as our latest Trainee Pilot at our Port of Esperance.

Mitch joined our Marine team in November last year as our latest trainee Pilot and has recently achieved his level one pilotage licence for the port.

The license allows him to pilot vessels up to 200m long, such as the handymaxes that regularly visit.

“It’s been a very busy and interesting four months and I’m so glad to have achieved my first license,” he said.

“I’m now looking forward to building my knowledge on the 200m vessels and achieving my 230m license.”

The precision skills of our Marine teams is what underpin the success of 800+ vessel visits across our ports each year and Mitch is proving he fits right in.

He described the training so far as “full on” while simultaneously becoming accustomed to assessing and working with the natural conditions of the harbour.

“The training involves a lot of time spent on vessels, but we’ve also managed to get some time on the simulator at Fremantle,” he said.

“That’s where we do all our emergency training for all sorts of situations – engine failures, rudder damage, tug failures and all sorts of other things.

“Handing those situations is all about working with the assets you’ve got at your disposal – you can’t get that practice on a vessel, so the exercises on the simulator are really important.”

Aside from the work on the water, Mitch is also eager to learn more about the port itself and how it facilitates trade.

“As I get more of that knowledge, I’ll be able to start offering situational advice that ensures trade continues smoothly,” he said.

 Before joining the Southern Ports team, Mitch had most recently spent a decade as the captain of LNG vessels travelling to and from Australia.

 “Prior to that I’d been a ship officer for around 10 years and prior to that I was working on different vessels in a variety of capacities,” Mitch said.

 “It was all about getting the ‘blue water’ experience necessary to reach certain levels of qualifications.”

 For many captains it’s a natural progression to move from spending a vast majority of time at sea before transitioning into piloting later in their careers.

 Mitch said it had been a bit of a shock to the system to be in one place since November.

 “It had pretty much been fly-in, fly-out work for my entire career up until this point,” he said.

Despite growing up in WA – spending parts of his childhood in Perth, Margaret River and Carnarvon - Mitch had only visited Esperance once.

 “That visit for a weekend in 2023 had nothing to do with wanting a job here, it was just about wanting to see the place – and I liked what I saw,” he said.

 As an avid surfer from a young age Mitch is right at home in Esperance’s adventurous playground saying he “just loves spending time around the water”.

 “I’ve also just started playing golf,” he said.

 “I’ve joined up as a member of the Esperance Golf Club and I’m still a bit of hack but it’s good to get out there and enjoy some time on the course while slowing getting better in a nice, social setting.”

 And best of all he’s enjoying working closely with his Southern Ports colleagues.

 “We’ve got a really great Marine team here in Esperance, and the whole port team has been great and very welcoming,” Mitch said.

Mitch is one of 13 members of Southern Ports’ marine pilot team across its three ports at Albany, Bunbury and Esperance.