James Way first worked for Guernsey Ports in 2004, as a temporary seasonal marina attendant across four summers in the visitor marina.
He then joined the Royal Navy, where he spent 11 years, and after that worked for the UK coastguard before returning to the island.
‘It’s very varied, there’s a high level of managing the day-to-day operations of St Peter Port and St Sampson’s harbour, but we also deliver a lot of roles on behalf of the States, providing maritime policy advice to government,’ he said. ‘It’s quite a broad role which makes it really interesting.’
Mr Way succeeds Jerome Davis, who has stepped down due to ill health.
He has been acting harbour master for the past year or so.
‘The variety of the role is really unexpected,’ he said. ‘We work in a business where you can have your whole day planned and then something changes it, for example the end of last year when we had the racing catamaran which capsized.
‘That started off as a coastguard search and rescue operation which we co-ordinated, and then turned into salvage and recovery operation.
‘One of the biggest challenges is managing the response to incidents at the same time as maintaining business as usual and planning for the future.’
During his tenure as harbour master, Mr Way aims to create a more collective working environment.
‘We’ve got a really good group of people working across Guernsey Ports and at the harbour, and it would be good to try and develop ways to invest in our people a little bit more, give them opportunities for training opportunities and career development,’ he said.
‘I’m keen to bring all our operational and technical services teams a bit closer together. We’ve been a bit siloed in the way we work, we have people who work out at the signal station at the end of the pier, running port control and coastguard, the marina team in the marina office, the marina leisure team over the new jetty, and I’d like to bring everyone together a little bit more and work in a more cohesive way.’
The senior ports team is made up of the harbour master, one deputy harbour master and head of port operations, and three assistant harbour masters who are all responsible for a different area.
Other teams also support operational delivery.
For now, Guernsey Ports is preparing for the upcoming summer season.
‘Our focus over winter is more on maintenance and making sure that we’re in a position to be able to welcome the thousands of visiting yachts that we get and the passengers, particularly from France,’ said Mr Way.
‘We’ve had a massive boom in day-trippers from France since the new Brittany Ferries schedules went live last year which has been really exciting.’
Guernsey Ports managing director Ross Coppolo said that Mr Way brought a wealth of maritime expertise and strong operational leadership to the job, alongside a deep connection to the island.
‘His experience in the Royal Navy and HM Coastguard, combined with his proven capabilities within Guernsey Ports, makes him exceptionally well-placed to lead our harbour and marine operations,’ he said.
‘I would also like to extend our heartfelt thanks to Jerome for his contribution to Guernsey Ports over the past 11 years. His professionalism, sound judgement, and commitment have shaped our organisation for the better, and he has our fullest respect and gratitude.’
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