From Cadet to Chief Officer - Vanessa Thomas Makes SEYPEC History

Fourteen years ago, Vanessa Jessica Thomas stepped aboard the Seychelles Paradise for the first time as a 20-year-old Deck Cadet.

She knew enough about life at sea to understand that becoming a senior officer would not happen quickly. There would be years of sea-time, examinations, courses and contracts aboard different vessels. There would also be the less predictable challenges that come with finding your place in an industry where women have traditionally been a minority.

She went anyway.

On 1 September 2026, Vanessa took another step in that journey when she assumed the rank of Chief Officer aboard MT Seychelles Patriot, becoming the first female Chief Officer in the SEYPEC fleet.

The promotion is significant, but for Vanessa, it is the distance between those two moments that makes it meaningful.

“When I joined my first vessel, Seychelles Paradise, as a Cadet, I saw firsthand how long and demanding the journey to becoming a Master or Chief Officer could be,” she says. “It was a challenge I knew I would have to face, but deep down I was ready and determined to take on the journey.”

The young woman who began that journey in 2012 would spend the years that followed learning the work from the ground up.

Her time with SEYPEC took her from cadetship into further studies and professional training, while her sea-time gave her the practical experience that cannot be learned in a classroom alone. She studied Nautical Science in India, later completed a Higher National Diploma in Nautical Science through the Scottish Qualification Authority with Government of Seychelles sponsorship, and undertook officer courses at the City of Glasgow College. SEYPEC subsequently supported her specialised STCW refresher and medical care training.

But the progression from Cadet to Officer was not simply a matter of collecting qualifications. Each contract brought another vessel, another crew and another opportunity to learn. Vanessa served across the SEYPEC and GTS fleet, including on deep-sea vessels and the locally based Seychelles Paradise, gradually moving through the ranks until she became a Second Officer. Along the way, she also had to prove that she belonged.

“To be frank, I will never hide the challenges I faced throughout my journey,” Vanessa says.

Some of the most difficult moments came from having to establish her capabilities as a young woman in what she describes as a traditionally male-dominated industry. There were contracts where she worked alongside senior colleagues who believed that a woman's place was at home rather than at sea.

Those experiences could have made her question whether she had chosen the right path. Instead, they became part of what shaped her.

A remark from a Seychellois senior officer has stayed with her throughout her career: “As a woman, you may have to work twice as hard to earn the same recognition.”

Vanessa chose to hear it as a challenge. “I still carry with me those words,” she says. “It became a source of motivation.”

There were, of course, moments when the long road ahead suddenly became real.

For Vanessa, one of them came when she became a Second Officer aboard Seychelles Pioneer. After years as a cadet, she was finally wearing the stripes of an officer.

“It was a moment I will never forget,” she says.

Captain Adrian Mondon, who was Master of the vessel at the time, was among those who helped guide her through that transition. Vanessa also remembers the many Seychellois officers, engineers and crew members who shared their knowledge with her over the years.

“Vanessa’s promotion is a proud moment for her, but it is also a proud moment for SEYPEC. Her journey from Cadet to Chief Officer is a reflection of what can be achieved when talent is given the opportunity to develop, and when determination is matched by education, experience and perseverance. We are proud to see a Seychellois woman reach this level within our fleet, and we hope Vanessa’s achievement will encourage more young Seychellois, both women and men, to see maritime careers as a path where they can build expertise, take on leadership and go as far as their ambition will take them,” said Captain Mondon, who is also the CEO of SEYPEC.

Vanessa credits the people she met along the way and every contract she served, with helping shape the officer she is today.

There is one person she places above all others, however. Her mother.

Through the difficult moments of her career, Vanessa says, her mother remained the person who stood beside her, guided her and refused to let her give up on herself.

“She has been my strength, my safe place and my greatest pillar of support,” Vanessa says.

Now, at 35, Vanessa is preparing to take on a new level of responsibility.

She will celebrate her birthday on 5 September, just days after assuming her new rank. But there is little sense that she sees the promotion as the end of anything. If anything, she sees it as another beginning.

As Chief Officer, she is looking forward to putting the knowledge she has accumulated over fourteen years into practice, while passing on what she has learned to those coming behind her.

And there is still another rank she has her sights on. Captain.

It is the ambition she carried when she first joined SEYPEC, long before the possibility seemed close enough to touch. “The journey continues,” she says. “With God’s guidance, I will rise to the helm.”

That ambition is also behind what Vanessa wants young Seychellois women to understand about a career at sea. She does not want her promotion to be seen simply as a first. She wants it to be seen as a possibility.

“The sea is not only a place for women to serve as crew members; it is a place where women can lead, make decisions, break barriers and leave their mark,” she says.

Her message extends beyond women. A career at sea requires discipline, resilience and a willingness to keep learning, but it can also offer young Seychellois people a path through which they can build specialised skills, take on responsibility and progress within an industry that connects Seychelles to the wider world.

Vanessa knows something about starting before you can see where the road will lead.

If she could return to that first day in 2012 and speak to the 20-year-old who was just beginning her career aboard Seychelles Paradise, she says she would give her the longest hug and tell her:

“You are stronger than you ever thought. You are capable of more than you realise.”

Fourteen years later, those words have become less like encouragement and more like evidence.

Vanessa Thomas has spent her career discovering just how much that young woman was capable of.