Fremantle Pilots have recently welcomed a new trainee pilot to their team. Captain Aden Felstead has recently begun the comprehensive and rigorous training program in the Port with the intention of his joining the pilot roster by midway through 2026.
Like many youngsters from the Safety Bay area, Aden has always loved anything to do with the water and the sea. His childhood was spent swimming, fishing, diving and boating in the pristine waters around Safety Bay with his dad, an electrician with Alcoa, brother, and mates. After completing all his schooling in the Safety Bay area, Aden followed in his older brother’s footsteps and began a deck officer cadetship with Offshore Marine Services, a company servicing the vast offshore oil and gas industry off Australia’s north west coast. Similar to many local mariners, Aden completed all his professional training and certification through the Western Australian Maritime Training Centre, situated near the WA Maritime Museum at the western end of Victoria Quay. In his breaks between lectures, Aden would often watch the various cargo ships entering and leaving the Inner Harbour and wondered whether he could one day pilot these ships into his home port! He moved through the ranks relatively quickly at sea and after attaining his Master’s Unlimited certification, was appointed Master at the age of 31 with SIEM Offshore.
After a number of years as Chief Mate and Master, Captain Felstead decided to make a move into marine pilotage and began training with Auriga Pilots in the Pilbara region. At this point he and his wife, also a Safety Bay local, had welcomed two young children into their family. In addition to being viewed as a professionally satisfying career, marine pilotage also has the advantage of being closer to home than being at sea and this is especially enticing with a young family. Prior to joining Fremantle pilots, Aden had attained his pilots licence for berths in Dampier, Onslow and the Port of Ashburton. This experience with a number of different berths, conditions and ship types is ideal preparation for a Port like Fremantle with its large variation in berths and manoeuvres.
For Aden, becoming a Fremantle Pilot is his ‘dream job, I feel incredibly privileged to be given the opportunity to pilot in my home port’. Fremantle Pilots are proudly Western Australian owned and operated. The Company takes particular pride in employing and training local mariners for the crucially important role of marine pilot in the Port of Fremantle, Western Australia’s premier port. Fremantle Pilots wish Aden all the best in his training and welcome him to the Company.
