{"id":254437,"date":"2025-07-21T16:24:23","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T06:24:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.worldcargonews.com\/?p=81497"},"modified":"2025-07-21T16:24:23","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T06:24:23","slug":"uk-peel-ports-appoints-first-female-group-harbour-master","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=254437","title":{"rendered":"UK Peel Ports appoints first female Group Harbour Master"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Susan Cloggie\u2011Holden has been named Group Harbour Master at Peel\u202fPorts Group, taking over from Gary Doyle as he transitions to retirement. She steps into the senior role overseeing marine operations across the group\u2019s seven harbour authorities, marking a significant milestone both for the company and the maritime sector.<\/strong><br \/>\n<span id=\"more-81497\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>A seasoned master mariner with decades of experience at sea, Captain Cloggie\u2011Holden brings a distinguished record from her time in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. Her appointment was confirmed by Peel\u202fPorts upon her taking up duties. The Glasgow-born former armed services mariner has been hailed as \u201can outstanding choice\u201d by peers within the organisation.<\/p>\n<h2>Charting A New Course<\/h2>\n<p>Cloggie\u2011Holden makes history as the first woman to hold the role of Group Harbour Master. Her fleet includes her home berth of Clydeport, complete with its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldcargonews.com\/news\/2024\/06\/port-of-greenock-welcomes-second-sts-crane-craner-swift\/\"  rel=\"noopener\">two one-year-old ship-to-shore cranes<\/a>, named by local school children. \u00a0Other ports on her roster are Liverpool, London Medway, and four other harbour authorities. Peel\u202fPorts describes her appointment as \u201ca landmark moment for gender representation in marine leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Before joining Peel\u202fPorts, Cloggie\u2011Holden served with distinction in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. In 2021, she became the RFA\u2019s first female commanding officer in its 120\u2011year history, leading a replenishment tanker on global missions. Alongside war-zone deployments and anti\u2011piracy operations, she was awarded the Merchant Navy Medal in recognition of her commitment to diversity and maritime safety.<\/p>\n<h2>A Life Under Way<\/h2>\n<p>In her new capacity, Captain Cloggie\u2011Holden will manage vital functions across the group\u2019s network, including vessel traffic, pilotage, navigation, marine safety, and harbour security. Peel\u202fPorts emphasised her experience and leadership qualities as ideally suited to these responsibilities.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-81500 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.worldcargonews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Susan-award-winning-Twitter-480x320.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"320\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.worldcargonews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Susan-award-winning-Twitter-480x320.jpeg 480w, https:\/\/www.worldcargonews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Susan-award-winning-Twitter-336x224.jpeg 336w, https:\/\/www.worldcargonews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Susan-award-winning-Twitter-208x139.jpeg 208w, https:\/\/www.worldcargonews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Susan-award-winning-Twitter.jpeg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Decorated Susan Cloggie-Holden at the Maritime UK Awards 2019 (SC-H, X)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>She replaces Gary Doyle, 63, who is stepping down later this month after nearly a decade at the port operator and an impressive career spanning over 40 years at sea and in port leadership. The succession has been described as a smooth handover of the watch. Peel\u202fPorts noted his endorsement of Cloggie\u2011Holden, describing her as \u201can outstanding choice\u201d to carry forward the company\u2019s marine strategy and operational excellence.<\/p>\n<h2>Coming Ashore<\/h2>\n<p>She has travelled the world and taken part in military and peacekeeping operations, including the initial Operation Veritas campaign against the Taliban in 2001-02, supporting the post-Saddam Iraqi Navy in 2006-07, conducting counter-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden at the height of the scourge in 2008-09, and navigating supply ship RFA Fort Rosalie as it provided support to RN vessels involved in operations off Libya in 2011.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re delighted to welcome Susan, whose experience and vision make her ideally placed to lead us into the next chapter,\u201d said David Huck, Chief Operating Officer at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.peelports.com\/\"  rel=\"noopener\">Peel Ports Group<\/a>. \u201cHer appointment marks an exciting milestone for Peel Ports Group and the industry more widely.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Having devoted her career to life at sea, Cloggie\u2011Holden said the role represents a new chapter grounded on land. She flagged her willingness to embrace fresh challenges. Captain Cloggie-Holden officially took up her new role earlier this month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Susan Cloggie\u2011Holden has been named Group Harbour Master at Peel\u202fPorts Group, taking over from Gary Doyle as he transitions to retirement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":81500,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17492,13091,17493,2365,11214,12339,17494,85],"tags":[12159],"class_list":["post-254437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-clydeport","category-david-huck","category-gary-doyle","category-glasgow","category-peel-ports","category-ports-terminals","category-susan-cloggieholden","category-uk","tag-world-cargo-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=254437"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254437\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":254931,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254437\/revisions\/254931"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=254437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=254437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=254437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}