Containers move over for Amanda

MARK DWYER

Amanda Gunn, 25, is the only female operations co-ordinator at Port Taranaki's Blyde Terminal, and has recently become the only woman in the country to complete a level four cargo operations qualification.

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Amanda Gunn has parted the seas and opened the way for women wharfies at Port Taranaki.

The 25-year-old New Plymouth port employee recently became the first female in the country to complete a level 4 national qualification in cargo supervision and planning.

She's also the only female operations co-ordinator at Blyde Terminal.

Her role involves organising the loading of containers, planning where on the ships they will go, and ensuring the ships are loaded evenly so they don't tip or roll.

She also liaises with the chief officers on the ships, and other port workers, who are predominantly male.

But being the starfish among the sea dogs doesn't bother Amanda.

Her colleagues are a great bunch who willingly helped her through her year of training, she said. "They've got so much knowledge and experience and they're only happy to pass it on. "They're awesome, a great team and they're a really diverse variety of people, but when we're working on a ship everyone's focused on their roles."

The only time Amanda feels a bit vulnerable is when she goes on to the ships to meet the officers.

"The ships are a bit like rabbit warrens," she says.

The best thing about her job is that she is outside a lot of the time and no day is ever alike, Amanda said.

"We don't all get up at ten-thirty and go and have a cup of tea, if a ship's coming in at night I might get there at ten and not leave until seven in the morning, but that's what's cool about it."

Amanda's interest in operations and machinery comes from her family - her father and grandfather both worked in the transport industry, and she loves the action of her job.

Next in line is getting her forklift licence, and then maybe some logistics papers.

But working on a ship is out - Amanda gets seasick.

- © Fairfax NZ News