Meet Captain Phillip Koa

Augetto Graig – Captain Phillip Koa is in his element on the bridge of the latest, biggest, most advanced, most expensive diamond recovery vessel in the world. With a twinkle in his eye, an easy smile and an affable nature, he belies the incredible responsibilities that weigh on his shoulders.Despite being responsible for the lives up to 106 souls on board, and N$7 billion worth of seafaring equipment, Koa shows the easy confidence of a man who knows how to lead.Obviously proud of the vessel he helped command on its recent maiden voyage from shipbuilders Damen at their shipyards in Mangalia on the Black Sea coast of Romania, and down past the equator to final fitting of mission equipement being completed in Cape Town, South Africa, Captain Koa relishes an opportunity to talk about its many innovative features.For instance the seven azimuth propeller thruster configurations that are synchronised to keep the ship perfectly positioned while its crawler mines the seabed, allowing mining to continue 98% of the time, regardless of weather and ocean conditions. This is called the Dynamic Positioning System. The other two percent of the time, when ocean swells top more than four meters, are anticipated and accounted for.He is just as passionate about his crew of diverse individuals, almost exclusively Namibian, and highly committed to making the most out of every shift. Spending 25 days onboard at a time with 80 crew members, Captain Koa takes his role seriously. “My role here as captain is to give guidence to everybody, to encourage everybody, to ensure that we have our roles and responsibilities well set out for everybody. We have got targets to meet. To ensure safety is priority and always that we have got everybody’s interests at heart. We have got shareholders that are also part and parcel,” he said.Captain Koa was one of the two Captains in charge on the trip down to southern African waters and describes the voyage as very exciting. “There were lots of challenges and new learning, but the idea was to understand what the ship can do and for us to also get familiar with this new vessel. It is state of the art, and with the new technology like the Dynamic Positioning System, will help us get to greater heights,” he said.“With anything there is always going to be a challenge. There were ups and downs, we had a bit of weather. But as sailors, that is what ships do. Ships are not designed to be in port, they are designed to be out at sea. So we managed to navigate from Mangalia all the way to Cape Town. It took 30 days. We arrived here on 18 September and on 20 September part of the crew had to sign off and go home to their families,” he said in a recent interview.Here follows are question and answer session which affords some more insight into this remarkable individual:Q: Where and when were you born?A: I was born on 11 August 1974 in Windhoek. Both my parents are from the southern region.Q: Where did you school?A: I did my primary school at the A. I. Steenkamp primary school from the then sub A until std 4 and then I did my std 5 at the Moses van der Byl primary school. All these schools are in Windhoek. I completed my high school career at Jan Jonker Afrikaner in Windhoek.Q: What is you first memory related to the sea?A: I went with my soccer team from the location Eastern Jumpers to play against teams from the coast when I was still in high school. The noise and the smell of the sea is still a memory I have in my mind.A: When did you decide on a maritime career?Q: Both my father and my uncle had work at sea before and they both told me stories of them growing up and doing different jobs amongs them working on boats in the Walvisbay harbour and doing repair works. This was always on the back of my mind and when I finally saw an advert in the newspaper on cadetship with Debmarine Namibia company I applied and the rest is history. That was in 1997.Q: Where did you study after school?A: After school I went to TUCSIN to do a gap year on improving my subjects and getting better marks for university entrance. I first studied Bcom at UNAM before making the change to a career at sea. My maritime studies I did at Granger Bay in Cape Town under the wing of the Cape Technikon.Q: When did you first work on the sea?A: My fist work at sea was as a navigation cadet with the cadetship of the current company I am with, and it was in November 1997.Q: What was your first position on a ship?A: I started off as a navigation cadet and worked my way up to a Captain the position I am currently occupying.Q: How does it feel to be Captain of this new diamond recovery vessel?A: It is indeed a privilege as it could easily have been any of the other Captains in our fleet. The fact that I am one of the Captains makes it special because it gives a sense of trust and faith in what your track record has been and also that your performance and conduct over years are not in vain.Q: Did you ever watch Titanic and what did you think of it?A: Yes I watched it, and although it is more on the storyline of love and a diamond it also shows the flaws that was overlooked on safety of the passengers and the wrong belief that the ship would never sink. The Titanic as a ship is the most known maritime disaster that has opened up the reality of the dangers of the sea and since then Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) became a reality and a new way of ships to comply with certain safety aspects.Q: What is your greatest fear?A: That my kids would want to also work at sea. In todays life there are many other opportunities that are waiting to be explored.A: Are you married with kids and how does your family cope with your long periods away?Q: I am married for 16 years to my lovely wife Peggy. We have 3 kids, the first son, Uarotua, 14 years, followed by twins Kyla (girl) and Guryon, that are 8 years old. Our time away from home is short, 25 days compared to the normal merchant shipping were you can be away for as long as 6 months. The only long periods that I have been away from home was during my formal studies and recently when we had to go to Romania for the final phase of the completion of the AMV3 vessel.Q: How do you cope with the pressure of your job?A: The fact that you have shoreside support and a very dynamic versatile management team that are managing the other departments makes it somewhat manageable to cope with the pressure that comes with the job.Q: Have you ever married anyone as Captains and priests can?A: No not really, but those are the typical things that a Captain on diamond recovery would be doing. We are in close proximity to the coast and just a helicopter flight away from everything which makes life easy.Q: What do you hope to achieve with the rest of your career?A: I hope to leave something behind or show that in this industry, everything is possible if you put your mind to it and do the right thing and always have the attitude. There is no shortcuts to success.– augetto@republikein.com.na#AMV3

Meet Captain Phillip Koa

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-02

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Meet Captain Phillip Koa

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-02

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