Working at sea is in Captain Ton van Oosten’s blood. He is the Captain of the dredge Fairway. Not only is he proud to be a fourth generation captain in his family, he’s spent more of his life on the water than on land.

From the small fishing village of IJmuiden in the Netherlands, Captain van Oosten says he knew at a young age he wanted to sail and by the age of 16 he was off on his first tugboat.

“I worked my way up, I became a third mate, second mate, then first mate, and by the time I was 31, I became captain, which was quite young at the time,”

Captain van Oosten, 55, has been with the Fairway for the past five years, and was a part of the Channel Deepening Project.

He says while he’s worked across the globe, this was his first time in New Zealand and it’s been an amazing experience.

“The scenery is outstanding, it’s as if we’ve been looking out at a postcard it’s so beautiful here,” he says.

“And the New Zealand crew members we’ve had on board are great – the guys are very friendly and hard working.”