There’s no doubt Regan Diggelmann has salt water running through his veins.
Originally from Tauranga, the qualified marine biologist has worked as a dive boat operator and dive instructor, taken groups on scentific dive field trips throughout New Zealand, led maritime survival training courses for offshore workers, and skippered lifeboat training exercises.
Oh, and by the way, his father-in-law is none other than Taranaki’s most famous seagoing skipper – Dave Chadfield, formerly of Chaddy’s Charters.
“Some weekends I used to come and run the boat to give him a break,” says Regan.
Most recently, Regan was a regional council hydrologist, which involved the monitoring and capturing of key enviormental data for the Taranaki region. However, the lure of a return to the sea was strong, and he landed the role of Port Taranaki marine operator in January.
One of his first jobs was as watchkeeper onboard tug Kīnaki as the vessel travelled to Lyttelton drydock for her first out-of-water survey.
“It was a great experience and learning opportunity. One of my watches was the graveyard shift from midnight to 4am through the Cook Strait, where there was quite a lot of ship traffic – it was busy, but it was a memorable passage.”
What does your role involve?
It’s a shared leadership role, with the other marine operator Brady Cameron. We lead and look after the launch crew and the port’s launches Rawinia and Mikotahi. We coordinate the roster and cover as deckhand or master for the fleet of launches and tugs.
What do you like about role?
It’s a really diverse and fast-paced role. I spent my first couple of days covering as tug deckhand, then I was on the Kīnaki for the voyage to Lyttelton. I came back and spent a week as launch deckhand, before taking a crew of contractors out to the Pohokura platform. The marine team are fantastic and super supportive, which makes it an awesome place to work.
What are the challenges?
At this stage, it’s scheduling and completing tasks while juggling the dynamic environment of shipping movements and crew manning for additional tasks. Fortunately, I have a great team and everyone’s keen to get in and help out.
