Julian McGale

I will be returning to the Hans Hansson for the 25/26 Antarctica season. As with last year year I will take command of the Hans Hansson in Stanley, Falkland Islands and bring her down to the Antarctic Peninsula for a 3 month expedition consisting of fly-in fly-out tourism based trips operating from King George Island.

Successfully commanded the inaugural expedition of the 45m newly-converted polar vessel, M/S Sola. Held full command (Master) on a scientific charter for a National Antarctic Programme, completing a full circumnavigation of the Spitsbergen archipelago.

Enabled the scientific team to significantly exceed all stated mission objectives, adding substantial value to their research and proving the vessel’s capability as a new scientific platform.

Managed all aspects of high-latitude polar navigation, ice management, and 24/7 vessel operations in challenging conditions, ensuring full compliance with ISM and Polar Code standards.

Oversaw all expedition logistics to support continuous oceanographic survey operations.

Sailing as master onboard a 24m historical expedition motoryacht operating ski and sail, discovery and photography based expeditions on Svalbard. The vessel sails from Longyearbyen on trips from one week to 12 days mainly exploring the northwest corner of Spitzbergen.

Returning to Better Moments full time for the first 2 months of the 2024 summer season. Additionally continuing as a freelance captain through to August.

I joined the St Helena, the ex RMS (Royal Mail Ship) servicing the island of St Helena for a short contract in the summer of 2024. The vessel was berthed in Portland, UK and after work to bring her to a pristine condition we sailed up the Thames to HMS Belfast for the launch of the Extreme-H hydrogen racing car in London.

Extensive sailing in the Antarctic Peninsula from the Falklands and Chile. In particular The Gullet and northern Marguerite Bay on film and science projects focussed on Pack-Ice Killer Whales. This vessel was also in dry dock when I joined and underwent extensive work. It operates with a small crew and requires a hands on approach. In Antarctica we conducted many landings and zodiac operations with film crews and science teams researching seals and Killer Whales. Sailing almost exclusively in uncharted or poorly charted waters posed a significant challenge but we conducted ongoing survey techniques which greatly increased our productivity over the time spent there.

Extensive sailing in the Arctic Wilderness of Svalbard at 79°N. Conducting tours and logistics for science and filming. Incorporating remote landings and guiding. Sailing from Longyearbyen, I covered the entire west coast of the archipelago from Hornsund up to Ny Alesund. As well as tours to popular areas I also carried out many logistics operations off the beaten path whether it was a group of scientists heading to a remote station or camp or mountaineers aiming for specific objectives.

Relief cover onboard Dover Straits ferries for DFDS who previously work for long term. This period included the annual dry dock period for the ships which gave me further experience with dry docking and refit work. It also allowed me to share my knowledge of the ships with the new officers onboard.

Master of a 24m survey vessel conducting surveys of Black Deep (Medway Approaches) on contract for the UKHO. This role demanded excellent ship handling in shallow waters while charting them in real time using multibeam echo sounders. The vessel carried a survey team onboard.

Captain onboard 24 CTVs (crew transfer vessel). This contract included working onboard both IPS propulsion and fixed pitch propulsion vessels. The vessels were contracted on a windfarm project in the North Sea which provided a challenge in terms of weather and ship handling landing on turbines and ships in marginal conditions which required not just skill but judgement.

Initially I was hired as Chief officer onboard the largest vessels in the fleet (230m LOA). This vessel operated daily sailings from Belgium to the UK and Ireland. It was incredibly fast paced days of cargo operations and nights sailing in busy waters. After completing 2 months working onboard that vessel I was offered the opportunity to train a new crew of ABs on a number of vessels most of whom didn’t have RoRo experience. The training focussed mainly on cargo ops safety and proper stowage and securing.

Four campaigns patrolling the coasts of West Africa for illegal fishing. Crew of 25 (50:50 professional and volunteer) and ten local governmental and military personnel. Extensive driving of and training crew on 9m 400HP RIBs carried onboard including long range night ops and ship to ship transfers.

Three refit periods including the purchase of a ship associated formalities. This was also a crucial time for training and crew selection.

Responsible for budgets, crew management, maintaining the relationships with the governmental agencies of Italy, Benin, Gabon, The Gambia, and various external agencies such as Class and Flag and Port state authorities.

The work also included working with various media outlets including CNN, BBC and Financial Times as well as many smaller local and international outlets. I was featured in a CNN Inside Africa documentary and appeared briefly on the BBCs Perfect Planet.

Senior officer and designated relief Chief Officer for the fleet of 3 180m LOA Cross- Channel ferries. This role is where I first became a senor officer and also where I learned ship handling from some of the most experienced ship handlers in the world. I would frequently complete 4 manoeuvres per day steadily increasing in confidence with weather and tidal conditions.

The cargo operations are intense with only 45minutes alongside to discharge and load the ship. This is a critical operation safety wise with crew and the general public on vehicle decks and is managed in a highly complex and professional system.

In addition to the above I was the lead in numerous ISM related projects for the fleet such as dangerous goods incident response plans and training.

I sailed at Mate on a 24m high speed CTV working on windfarm projects on the North Sea coast of Denmark. My position was second in command of the vessel and as such I had responsibility for safe operations on deck and share responsibility for navigation and bridge operations with the Master of the vessel. I gained a lot of experience in boat handling in this position. After working on cruise ships with a large crew this was a fun challenge and with my large vessel experience I was also able to bring good management and conformity skills to the vessel.

I received excellent appraisals for all assignments. In my first contract I started as a 4^th Officer and I was working as Assistant Safety Officer reporting to the 1^st Officer. On my second contract I was given the sole responsibility for Navigation. This involves preparing passage plans, briefing the bridge team on passages to be undertaken for the day and taking care of all other concerns with bridge equipment and bridge related matters, reporting to the Staff Captain and Captain. The company requires dual watchkeeping at all times, of course I started as the junior officer on the watch but I was promoted to the position of senior watch keeper on my second contract.

As a deck cadet I sailed on a variety of ships, large and smaller bulk carriers and large container ships. This took me from the Caribbean to the Far East. I was always ready to learn as well as to work and consistently received positive reports and comments from senior officers. During this time I also excelled in college being one of only three in my class to pass all graded examinations with an ‘A’ grade. I completed my academic phases of my training at Glasgow College of Nautical Studies.