This was the early 1990’s, and a young Dave had recently dropped out of an architecture university course as academics had “taken a back seat to my social life”.

Concerned at the lack of career direction, his father had decided his son would make the most important decision of his life there and then, before supper was served.

Dave explained: “My father said at my current education level I was qualified to dig ditches [manual labour] for the remainder of my life.

“He asked me what I wanted to do, and I told him I wanted to hitchhike around Europe to figure life out, but he soon put a stop to that idea.

“We discussed several options, one of which was a program at the Marine Institute called Nautical Science.

“He explained it to me as being similar to the Navy ‘but civilian’, more like the private sector, with better money.

“At around 5pm, my mother called us for dinner, and I got up to leave, but my dad said, ‘sit back down’ as we had not made a decision.

“I was hungry, so to get it over with I said, ‘let's go with Nautical Science’. Once the decision was made, I was allowed to go for supper, and I started Nautical Science that September.

“I didn't have a clue what I was getting into - but I fell in love with it instantly.”

Thirty-five years later and Captain Stone’s enthusiasm for seafaring and the marine industry is stronger than ever.

The decision he made that afternoon - prompted by his father’s instruction and an unrelenting hunger for supper - took Dave away from the north-east corner of Canada to all parts of the world.

Throughout his career he has sailed on a variety of different vessels and when onshore on leave, he has trained over 2200 seafarers on 3 continents as a qualified instructor.

After joining Northern Marine in 2023, he assisted with the arrival into management of newbuild LNG carriers, one of which he was on when he accepted an invite to tell us about his life and career.

A traditional Canadian upbringing

 “I was born in Vancouver, but I was raised in a small town called Harbour Grace on the island of Newfoundland,” said Dave.

“It was a great place to grow up. I went to school with all the same people from Kindergarten to aged 12. I played every type of sport and fished with my grandfather in the summer.

“My friends and I would 'Tabby' (jump from ice pan to ice pan) when the icebergs and slab ice would arrive in the spring of the year. We would play hockey on the harbour when it froze.

“I used to hitchhike everywhere. These were all the regular things kids would do where I grew up.

“When I started at the Marine Institute, that is where my life changed. I learned how to explain and teach.

“When I became an officer with an energy major, during my leave I taught at the Marine Institute's fire school, then progressed to the Centre for Marine Simulation teaching Bridge Resource Management and oil rig Stability.

“The Marine Institute became a part of the University, so I started as a professor teaching the Bachelor of Maritime Studies program online. Nowadays I work at a tech company that builds full motion simulators for davit and freefall lifeboats, virtual reality fast rescue craft simulators, and ice simulators.

“I never thought growing up in a small fishing village that I would travel to over 83 countries, sail on state-of-the-art LNG carriers, and teach people how to drive a Fast Rescue Craft in virtual reality.”

Describing his merchant navy career path as unconventional, Dave moved through the ranks with a major energy company quickly, moving from vessel to vessel, gaining experience on different ship types with different crews.

“Just when I thought I was good at my job I would meet an impressive officer, and soon realize that I needed to improve myself to match that level,” added Dave.

“When I became Captain, I was hired as a fleet trainer, running the induction for a major Project; I trained over 2200 officers and crew on 3 continents. It was the best job ever.

“This allowed me to work beside high-level shore management, project teams, all the crewing agencies and understand the bigger picture of my [energy major] employer’s overall business.

“That is thousands of people and every one of them taught me something new. I can recall countless diner parties and conversations talking to the most remarkable people.

“It has truly shaped my leadership style, the way I approach challenging situations and my outlook on the world in general. It has been a great ride, and I am just getting started.”

The soft skills are where it counts

To celebrate his birthday, the crew of the vessel Dave is on recently made a movie for him, describing him as a ‘rock star captain’.

Unsure about the crew-appointed informal title, Dave reflected on a question regarding what type of leader he is.

He replied: “I have always thought of myself as positive and enthusiastic, but lately I have had people telling me I am calm and patient, which is nice.

I think the most important traits in a captain is to learn how to look after your people. Invest your time in building your team up. You’ll have people rolling their eyes at that answer; they’ll list qualities like experience and technical skill as more important.

“Technical skill is nice, but a skill can be taught in a relatively short period of time.

“I don’t need a high performer who is toxic. I would much rather a medium performer who you can trust, wants to learn and will help others.

“I can teach them certain technical skills in a couple of days. The soft skills are where it counts, and those are the hardest to develop.

“I have been working on my soft skills for 30-years and I still don’t have it figured out.

“There is a quote from Simon Sinek: ‘Leadership is not about being in charge, leadership is about looking after the people in your charge.’

“I always recommend we should all start working on those skills today, as you have to be people oriented.”

Commanding new ships

Over the past two years and ongoing in 2025, there has been a steady influx of newbuild vessels arriving into the Northern Marine Fleet from existing and new ship-owner clientele.

The ships have featured new and different types of technology often linked with new fuels such as methanol and LNG.

Dave has played a recent role as Captain onboard several of these vessels.

Working on the new vessels can pose challenges for crew, as well as exciting opportunities to operate vessels truly at the forefront of industry advancement.

He explained: “It is pretty cool being onboard newbuild vessels.

“The new vessels I have recently been on have this ‘Tesla car-type’ feature.

“The vessel has 360o cameras and sensors around it. As you pass an object like a buoy the sensors tells you its name, its light characteristic and how far it is a way from you. It does the same for ships. It is super cool.

“Last year I had an online technician connected directly to the dishwasher in the galley to fix it! That is how much the internet has permeated our lives on board.

“The physical tasks unique to setting up newbuild vessels for operational readiness are easy enough, such as supporting IT with the setting up of systems and hardware, connecting wires, putting up operational stickers and signage etc.  

“The challenge is the time management, every task takes weeks or months to complete, and often it needs to be done yesterday.

“It can wear you down if you are not careful. My job is to slow everyone down, show them what they have achieved, celebrate the wins, and get them to pace themselves and look after themselves.

“You just have to keep going, overcome one challenge at a time and keep moving forward. Being mentally resilient is a strong component of it for sure.

“Plus, a ship is a constant work in progress anyway; even ships that have been in service for a decade are constantly improving.”

“Even with all the technology in the world, I still need 30 well trained professional mariners to run this ship!”

A decision without regret

Dave continues his career journey with positivity and enthusiasm, having never regretted the decision his father helped him to make that day before supper.

But is his father happy with the decision he made?

Dave answers: “He is super happy for me and how my life has turned out.

“About 7 to 8 years ago, we were talking on his back deck about how much I love my job and how I remarked how I made the decision because I was hungry.

“He did not even recall that initial conversation at all; he laughed at the story!”

And what was the supper 30 years ago that drove Dave to sign up for a career in the merchant navy?

“Newfoundland Sunday dinner or ‘Jiggs dinner’ as we called it back home,” said Dave.

“All your vegetables (carrot, potato, cabbage, turnip and peas pudding) cooked in a pot with salt beef.

“It is served with either a chicken, turkey, or a roast; in this case it was a chicken, then slathered in gravy with dressing.

“It is God’s way of telling you he loves you.

“Or in my case, telling me to hurry up and pick a path.”

ENDS

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