Structure and Management
The Australasian Marine Pilot Institute (AMPI) is registered with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) as a company limited by guarantee under the Corporations Act 2001.
As a not-for-profit organisation, AMPI is registered as a company limited by guarantee, which means we cannot pay dividends and we cannot issue shares. Therefore, no person can acquire a controlling interest or profit from a share sale, and each member of the company has a single vote.
Our Board of Directors consists of up to 13 pilot members representing a cross-section of the membership from the coastal states of Australia.
Our Executive Board consists of five Directors who have been elected for the roles of President, Deputy President, two Vice Presidents, and a Treasurer.
Board of Directors
11 directors from 5 states and territories
Representing NSWPresident
Captain Josephine Clark
Josephine has been President of the Australasian Marine Pilots Institute since October 2023 and is an unlimited marine pilot with the Port Authority of New South Wales at Port Kembla, a role she has held since 2012.
Josephine’s career at sea began in 1989 as a deck cadet with BHP. She rose through the ranks as a deck officer before a two-year move ashore into chartering operations with BHP Billiton in Melbourne and The Hague. She returned to sea in command, as Master with ISM Ship Management from 2002 to 2004. In 2005 she became Harbour Master and Pilot at the Port of Eden with NSW Maritime, before moving to Port Kembla.
As AMPI President, Josephine has represented Australasian pilots to industry and government. She advocates for pilotage as the last critical safeguard in a layered port safety system. In 2024 she was named among the 100 Top Women in Shipping.
Representing NSWDeputy President
Captain Ricky Rouse
Ricky is a Marine Pilot and Check Pilot with Port Authority of New South Wales in Newcastle, where he has piloted since 2017. He has served as an AMPI Director and Deputy President since 2019.
Representing QLD
Representing NSWVice President, Vice President (IMPA)
Captain Adam Roberts
Adam has dedicated more than 30 years to the maritime industry, with a career focused on improving maritime safety, advancing professional standards and supporting the pilotage profession at local, national and international levels.
His career includes 17 years at sea, culminating in command of LNG tankers as Master, followed by 15 years as a Marine Pilot in Australia. Adam currently serves as Vice President of the International Maritime Pilots’ Association (IMPA), Vice President of the Australasian Marine Pilots Institute (AMPI), and IMPA Liaison to ISO Technical Committee 8.
Representing VIC
Representing WA
Representing TAS
Representing QLD
Representing WA
Representing WADirector
Captain Ryan Cobb
Ryan is a Marine Pilot and Loading Master with Woodside Energy and has served on the AMPI Board of Directors since November 2025. A Ngarluma man with family ties to the West and East Kimberley, he grew up in Broome and on the Dampier Peninsula, and in 2019 became Australia’s first Indigenous master mariner.
Ryan went to sea at 18 as a pearl diver with Paspaley, rising to head diver, before joining Woodside’s marine operations traineeship in 2006. He served on offshore supply vessels with Farstad Shipping and on LNG carriers, completing his master’s sea time on secondment to Maran Tankers and Maran Gas, including a global circumnavigation and the delivery of the new-build LNG carrier Woodside Chaney.
Ashore, he worked in Perth as a Marine Operations Adviser and Tanker Assurance Specialist, then served as Chief Officer on the Ngujima-Yin FPSO before moving into pilotage in 2021.
Ryan is a committee member of Offshore & Specialist Ships Australia and served on The Nautical Institute’s WA branch committee from 2016 to 2023. He mentors Indigenous seafarers and is a strong advocate for Indigenous careers in the maritime industry.
Representing QLDDirector, CPD
Captain Patrick Walsh
Patrick is a marine pilot with Poseidon Sea Pilots in Brisbane, a role he took up in February 2023, piloting vessels through Moreton Bay and the Brisbane River.
Patrick’s seagoing career began in 2003 as Second Officer with The Golden Fleet. Over the next decade he rose through Chief Officer and Relief Captain to Captain, commanding in worldwide cruising operations until 2014.
He then moved ashore to Groote Eylandt in the Northern Territory, where for more than eight years he served as Marine Pilot and Loading Master for GEMCO (South32). He piloted bulk carriers up to Handymax size and similar product tankers, and as Loading Master conducted draught, hull and bunker surveys and was the primary point of contact for manganese loading.
Patrick has been an AMPI member since 2014 and a Director since October 2023, and co-edits the Institute’s magazine, Safe Passage. Prompted by the Baltimore bridge collapse, he compiled a national review of escort towage and emergency training, drawing on pilots from Port Hedland to Hobart. He is also a member of the Company of Master Mariners Australia.