At just five years old, Donna Van Damme told her parents she was going to be captain of the QE2.
But unlike many youngsters who change their childhood ambitions several times over, her focus on joining the Merchant Navy never faltered.
Fast forward three decades, she is now using her experience as a mariner to grow Marex, a marine risk and compliance business, as it expands into the East of England.
“I am the only member of the team based in the east, so my aim is to grow the Marex business here and get our brand known as it is in Aberdeen. The company is looking to expand more into the renewables industry and when you look at renewables, East Anglia is the place to be.”
A small team, but with years of expertise, Marex employs 10 staff and a catalogue of long-term contractors, who help to manage the risks that come from operating in hazardous industries.
Specialising in marine and energy, it was set up 26 years ago by Vic Gibson in response to Piper Alpha and the Cullen Report, which stated that oil installations need safety cases.
“I’m a marine consultant, but I think being a mariner brings a different perspective to the job as I’ve spent time on boats and ships, I know how they work, and I am very tuned into the potential pitfalls that can come with it,” said Donna.
“My dad was a sailor and always told stories of the places he had been. If there was a ship or a shipping museum to visit, we always went. The sea is the gateway to anywhere.”
Donna applied for a cadetship in the Merchant Navy while she was taking her A Levels, as well as for a place at university.
“I got into Durham, Newcastle and Leeds, which were the three I applied to, to study maths and astrophysics. I never really had any intention of going as I had been to interviews with Maersk, Shell and BP.
“I was still doing my A Levels when I got an envelope from Maersk. My dad rang me at lunchtime and said a letter had come. He actually drove to college to meet me and give me the envelope to see if I had got the job. My dad was as excited as I was.”
At 18, Donna began her three-year training as a deck cadet in South Shields, splitting her time between college and time at sea.
“My first trip away was to Hong Kong with three other cadets. Maersk were quite unusual at the time in that they had cadet training ships – six of their vessels had an extra deck just for cadets, so they would take between eight and 10 cadets in one go so you had a support system there.
“I turned 19 about three weeks later in the middle of the Pacific on the Glasgow Maersk ship. It was a baptism of fire and a five-month trip as we had to have a certain amount of sea time before we could qualify.
“Those vessels ran across the Pacific and we pretty much did set runs for the whole of my career with Maersk. Many times, I was the only female on a ship with 30 men.”
Donna qualified as officer of the watch, taking responsibility for the navigation of the vessel for eight hours a day, the firefighting and life-saving equipment and cargo operations. She progressed to second mate, the third in command, before coming ashore to work for Svitzer as an officer onboard a harbour tug on the River Tees.
Her time at sea also saw her find another love, after meeting her future husband Tony when they were both posted onboard the Sealand Eagle.
“I met Tony in South Korea. We flew out to join a vessel together where I was third officer, and he was second. We got married three years later, although we’ve never sailed together since!”
The couple moved to Aberdeen where they had their daughter Emily, and Donna joined Marex for the first time in 2013, before a move to Northern Ireland with Tony’s job saw Donna take a long career break to be a full-time mum.
The family then relocated to Lowestoft, where a chance conversation between Tony and Marex MD Wayne Henderson led Donna back to Marex in 2022.
“I suppose I have had a varied career. I miss the sea some days, the routine of it and having your day planned out, you just followed the rhythm.
“I loved seeing the world. Mount Fuji looked so much better than on a photo. I also managed to get in the eye of a hurricane, although I didn’t intend to do that!”
Career memories
Donna’s career at sea didn’t come without a catalogue of amusing encounters.
“On one Sealand vessel we built our own swimming pool. I was generally the instigator of these things. I got a garden pool and then the chief engineer welded brackets into the deck so it would be stable enough for us to cross the pacific with.
“I was never one for sitting around, so I often used to organise dart tournaments or quizzes in down time. I sent my poor parents a list of quiz questions and asked them to find out the answers for me.
“When we were in Panama, the captain on the ship gave me some money so I could buy chocolate and candy canes for Christmas. The next day I dressed up as Santa. I wore a big boiler suit that was just stuffed with rags, because we had nothing else.
“I weighed a ton so I sat down on my bed for a minute, toppled backwards and couldn’t get up. So, I then had to ring the bar, where I knew everyone was gathered waiting for me and ask for them to send a cadet down to my cabin to ‘assist’ me.”
Donna’s background and life at home
Donna grew up in Loftus, a small town south of Middlesborough and went to secondary school in Redcar.
She left school with five A levels in maths, further maths, physics, economics and general studies and a distinction in extra maths.
In her spare time, Donna takes her daughter geocaching and supporting her passion for playing the guitar and ukulele.
“We also like going to country fairs. My happy place is my garden, although we have had to remove all the grass and replace it with artificial grass because my dog is allergic!”
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