Meet the Team: Brocque Preece
The team at AqualisBraemar shares the passion, vision and values for working in energy and the world’s oceans, de-risking and driving the energy transition. We are driven by the idea that the best work is born from professionalism, diligence… and fun. You know AqualisBraemar, but do you know our team?
Brocque Preece, Naval Architect | London
What do you do at AqualisBraemar?
I’m a naval architect based in London and work within AqualisBraemar’s Ports & Harbours team which typically gets involved in risk and engineering studies surrounding ports and harbour facilities, or incident investigation for port and harbour related claims. Our team’s client-base is hugely varied and generally, my roles are also hugely varied. For engineering consultancies, I work alongside our team delivering mooring analysis design, marine risk assessment and ship simulation for navigation risk assessments. For insurance companies and legal houses, I act as an expert for mooring-related incidents, particularly passing vessel interaction cases. For offshore renewables, I’m involved in port suitability studies for proposed offshore developments. For ports directly, it can be any of the above really. In amongst that, I support the wider marine community (and the wider AqualisBraemar team) with general naval architecture – stability book and technical reviews, vessel motions and interactions, investigations, etc.
What excites you the most about our industry?
Probably the most exciting thing for me right now is the energy transition. Leading away from traditional fossil fuels to more sustainable and cleaner sources – first and foremost being offshore wind. This continually shifts from a niche market toward a bright future of commercial viability with interest, and in many cases complete backing, from national governments around the world. As part of this, the entire supply chain needs to transition to support it, including ports, which lends itself to unique challenges and identifying solutions to work around existing constraints – new projects, new port operations, new vessels in port, new risks, etc. – and how this all interacts with the harbour’s existing operations.
Taking a wider view, I thoroughly enjoy how globally connected the marine industry is to the everyday but without people even realising, be it through the shipped goods, fuels or the future proofing infrastructure developments like offshore renewables. That and hearing mariners tell tall tales over a beer – honestly, it never ceases to amaze and entertain.
What made you join AqualisBraemar?
I started with AqualisBraemar in the New York office and later moved back to the London office. Working in a company with such a wide reach geographically and in their expertise is a very strong draw card and is bolstered by the genuine helpfulness of the wider global staff. I’m also extraordinarily fortunate to be working with the same port & harbours team for the last 8 years and this is the main reason I continue to enjoy what I do. The wide variety of work that comes through means there’s very rarely two projects alike, and I am constantly working through new challenges which keeps it interesting. Whether it’s the highly-focused expert work for a mooring incident insurance claim, or a high-level port suitability and navigation risk study, it is always new and exciting and I know there’s always someone with the right expertise one call away if needed.
What do you do when you are not working?
Time outside of work was often spent travelling with my wife, trying new pubs, restaurants, beers, wines (the list goes on) and generally catching up with friends as much as possible. This has been all but non-existent in 2020 though, so I’ve pushed on with my other favourite thing: cycling (and generally attempting to keep fit outdoors by walking, hiking and running).