Meet the Team: Mark McGurran

The team at the AqualisBraemar LOC group shares the passion, vision and values for working in energy and the world's oceans, de-risking and driving the energy transition. We are driven by the idea that the best work is born from professionalism, diligence… and fun. You know the AqualisBraemar LOC group, but do you know our team?

What do you do at the AqualisBraemar LOC group?

My title is Global Managing Director for Marine at AqualisBraemar. That role involves driving the business forward, ensuring we attract and retain the correct calibre and character of staff on our team and developing the high-level business strategy. It also involves ensuring we meet and exceed our client expectations and that our deliverable to our clients remains consistent (consistently high!) across our entire company. Given the size of our growing organisation, this task becomes more challenging and satisfying as time goes by.

Being an ex seafarer, I always feel my real job is being a marine engineer (photo attached is of me as a Chief Engineer taking propeller clearances in 2003). Like all of my seafaring colleagues, I bring my experience gain at sea and in the maritime industry to work with me every day; this experience helps our clients understand, assess and mitigate risk. We share the knowledge we have gained, both at sea and in our time surveying and consulting so that our maritime community can manage risk and the unfortunate casualties that do occur.

Another important part of my role is to at all times make myself available to all of my teammates, so they know they have someone to bounce ideas off, ask for advice or just have a chat.

What excites you the most about our industry?

The diversity in the maritime industry excites me greatly, be that in location (I have had the privilege of a lot of travelling in my career) or in people (I work with people from all backgrounds who come from all over the world, both in my team and in the wider market). The marine insurance market makes up a large proportion of our client base, and the people that make this market what it is - a true marketplace - are a great bunch of vibrant characters. I feel very fortunate to count so many wonderful people as friends I have met through my work.

What made you join the AqualisBraemar LOC group?

When I left the sea to begin my journey in marine consulting, I started with another firm as a marine claims surveyor, something I still do on a day-to-day basis. Being a marine claims surveyor, the Salvage Association, or the SA, was always the biggest and best name in town, so I guess I always wanted to work there. The SA is now part of the AqualisBraemar family, and I am very pleased to also be a part of that same family.

What do you do when you are not working?

With such a busy work schedule, finding time to spend with my family is enormously important to me. All three of us love to cook, so the kitchen is usually where you'll find us. My son and I spend a lot of time cycling together in an attempt to work off all that cooking! I also enjoy playing a very poor standard of golf with our clients and my poor golfing buddy and teammate Steve McCarthy.

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