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Meet Chris Lorden

Job: 

Nautical Tutor.

Job description: 

<- Homepage: Matariki and navigation from Kupe to Cook to Today

Teaching ship navigation to experienced seafarers.

Work background: 

Chief Officer and 2nd officer on New Zealand Coastal ships, including; interisland ferries, coastal tankers, coastal cargo ships, Square rigged sailing ships, Spirit of NZ, Spirit of Adventure, Bark Endeavour and Soren Larsen.

Favourite part of job: 

Using our ship simulator to create realistic emergencies to train mariners.

Least favourite part of job: 

Entering student results into polytechnic systems.

What I am working on now: 

Helping Interisland ferry crew train in navigating the entrance to the Marlborough Sounds.

A quick story about a job well done: 

Sailed on Cooks Bark Endeavour replica as watch officer and safely navigated it on the NZ coast from Tauranga to Auckland and Timaru to Dunedin.

A (humorous) story about a job that went badly and what you learned: 

Fell overboard on the Square rigged sailing ship Spirit of Adventure when securing the tender hung on the after end (Stern) of the vessel. I learned that I needed to make sure the tender (Small Boat) was well secured and would not tip before I climbed into it.

Qualifications: 
  • Master class 1 unlimited
  • Advanced Diploma in Applied Science
  • Certificate in Adult Teaching
  • Proficiency in Fast Rescue Boats
Interests outside work: 

Sailing, Kayaking, Geocaching, mountain biking.


Chris Lorden is a Maritime Tutor at the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology. Image: NMIT.

This is the maritime navigation simulator that Chris uses at NMIT to train mariners. Image: NMIT.

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