Marco(48)

I served twenty years in the Royal Dutch Navy, ten as a navigation officer and five as harbour master at the naval base in Den Helder. After leaving the navy I worked three years at the port of Rotterdam. But the bureaucracy and politics in the Dutch maritime sector frustrated me. When a recruitment agency approached me for a position at Port of Tauranga — New Zealand's busiest export port — I was immediately interested.

Port of Tauranga is crucial to the New Zealand economy. About 40% of all exports — timber, dairy, kiwifruit, meat — goes through this port. The assistant harbour master role required experience in port safety, maritime traffic and crisis management. My military background and Rotterdam experience made me a strong candidate. The AEWV was approved within four weeks.

Tauranga is not just a port city — it's one of the most attractive places to live in New Zealand. The Bay of Plenty lives up to its name: the climate is mild to warm, the beaches are spectacular and the region produces more sunshine than almost anywhere else in the country. Mount Maunganui ("the Mount") is an icon — a volcanic hill surrounded by white sand and turquoise water.

Maritime work here is more varied than in Rotterdam. You deal with large container ships, but also fishing fleets, recreational vessels and oil spill exercises. Māori culture is strongly present in the port — the local iwi (tribe) co-owns port land and there are protocols for culturally significant areas. I've learned a lot about tikanga and biculturalism.

The salary as assistant harbour master is NZ$130,000 plus a company car. The maritime sector in NZ pays well, and with my experience I can progress to harbour master. KiwiSaver builds up, ACC covers work-related incidents and the retirement age here is 65 (with NZ Super, the state pension). My wife works as a nurse at Tauranga Hospital — she also benefited from the Green List.

My advice to people with maritime experience: New Zealand is an island nation dependent on the sea. Ports, shipping, fishing, aquaculture — there's a shortage of qualified personnel. The ports of Tauranga, Auckland and Lyttelton are all looking for people. If you love the sea and want a country that values maritime expertise, this is the place. After three years I applied for my Skilled Migrant Category residence.