Meet the Team: Pat Cannie
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?
Pat Cannie, Managing Director – Marine | Middle East & India
What do you do at AqualisBraemar?
I look after the team handling all Marine H&M and P&I casualties in the Middle East and India region. This includes our own staff surveyors and our consultants in other countries where we do not have a permanent presence. I provide guidance and mentoring to the younger surveyors and advise them on the handling of larger or potentially contentious cases, such as collisions, major fires and war risks. One of those cases was one which I attended myself, in Durban in early 2017 (photos attached). A shipowner and crew had attempted to flood the engine room to sink the ship on a crossing of the Pacific to Cape Town, but were unsuccessful. I attended to trace all of the seawater ballast and bilge lines in the bottom of the engine room in an effort to trace what they had opened or closed. Eventually, the case was settled out of court. I also act as an expert witness and attended a survey on the MAERSK HONAM and appeared at the salvage arbitration in London (via my dining room due to COVID) last June. I am presently preparing for another court hearing in Norway regarding the failure of a main engine crankshaft. I have recently attended on a war risk damage in Dubai Drydocks where the vessel was struck by a rocket whilst in port in Jeddah, KSA.
What excites you the most about our industry?
I have wanted to be in this business since I was about 10 years old when my father (a dockworker/stevedore) would take me to work with him in the docks in Greenock during the school holidays. I would be left on deck with the tally clerk to record whatever was being discharged or loaded. I became a cadet engineer at 16 with Mobil Tankers and have stayed in the business ever since, save for a year running a diesel power station in the UAE. I love the variety of the work and the people we meet on a daily basis, plus it has given me an opportunity to travel all over the world and see places I might not have seen in another career. For three years, between 1986 and 1989 I was involved in major war damage casualties and salvage operations. The people are what make this business so stimulating.
What made you join AqualisBraemar?
I have been in Dubai since 1986 and sold my own business to LOC in 2013. Then, in 2016 I was approached to head Braemar’s operations in Dubai, which was then acquired up by Aqualis Offshore. Again, it is all about the people and seafarers are amongst the most adaptable and can do folk around. That’s why I stay – the people.
What do you do when you are not working?
I played rugby at a very low level until I was about 48, coached at all ages from 5 to 18 years, took teams on tour around the Arabian Gulf and to China. I have always been a keen runner and triathlete (member of the Creek Hash House Harriers and Dubai Triathlon Club in Dubai), ran and organised marathons in Dubai and took part in an ultra marathon – Comrades – in Durban. Since I had a knee replacement 10 years ago my fitness work is confined to rowing and the gym. Other than that, I enjoy reading and going to the cinema. I am married; one wife, two sons and three grandchildren.