30 May 2014
This month Shoreham Port staff celebrated the career of one of the Port’s longest serving employees, Chris Bunby. Chris has retired from Shoreham Port after nearly 29 years of service. When Chris began his career at the Port he would often meet the Pilots and it was during this time that he was approached by Captain Ryder and offered a job as a pilot cutter Coxswain. The criteria for the position then were local knowledge of the Port and the ability to fix boats should they go wrong (as they sometimes do!).
Chris added “It was at this time my career changed from mainly machine driving, to working on the Pilot boat, although I was often on a fishing boat when time allowed. During this time I was made Senior Coxswain which meant I took responsibility for the day to day running of the boats and made sure they passed their yearly surveys.
Chris continued “I have been extremely fortunate to work with a great team of people. In recent years, due to health reasons, I had to stand down from my position as a coxswain but my career with the Port changed again with a great deal of help from the Management team at the Port. I made a switch to the Engineering Department, which turned out health-wise to be a great move and I was able to go into retirement feeling well again. My thanks to everyone at Shoreham Port. I am looking forward to coming back for a couple of days a week when required.
Julian Seaman, Harbour Master at Shoreham Port said “We will certainly miss Chris at the Port. He has always been an integral part of the team and I would like to wish him all the best for a very happy retirement.
Tony Parker, Director of Engineering at Shoreham Port added “Chris has had a long and illustrious career at the Port and we are going to miss him greatly. Chris is the ideal candidate for the job of Coxswain on our new workboat ‘Juno’, so although we wish him a long and happy retirement, we hope to persuade him to come and help us out from time to time.
