By: Captain Ken
My name is Ken Williams and I am a Belizean. I am thirty one years old and I was born in Belize City, but raised in Southern Belize in a small town named Punta Gorda. I grew up approximately five minutes from the Caribbean Sea where I spent a lot of time in the water, whether it was swimming, snorkeling or fishing with my family to the offshore Cays, it was always my passion.
I joined the M/V Belize Aggressor III in December of 2014, two months after completing my Dive Instructor Course in Ambergris Caye, but I had been diving since 2009. I was certified as a Dive Master since 2013 and I got the opportunity to work various places around my beautiful country Belize, home to the second largest Barrier Reef in the world.
In 2016 I was given the opportunity by Captain Jay Roberts to go to Omoa, Honduras to do my STCW 95 and Mechanical Engineering Course to eventually be the relief Engineer Onboard. I was trained by Captain Jay and Fermin the main Engineer, on how to operate and troubleshoot most of the machines we have onboard. Most of my knowledge came from hands on experience and I grasped the concept of Engineering as best possible. I was never fond of mechanics at a younger age but I enjoy it much now.
In 2017 I was transferred to M/V Belize Aggressor IV where I expanded my knowledge in the field of yachting, diving and engineering. It is a bigger vessel which means more machines and more trouble shooting. I was ready for whatever the challenge would be and did it all to the best of my ability.
The amazing part about the M/V Belize Aggressor IV was that it would go to the Dominican Republic yearly to take tours out to the Silver Banks where they would take customers to go swim with the Humpback Whales. So in 2018 we traveled for five days and five nights over one thousand one hundred nautical miles to arrive at our destination. This gave me a lot of sea time at the helm because we would rotate every four hours for the day in buddy teams manning the helm. Captain Dennis was in charge at that time and he spoke of all his amazing traveling he had done as a Captain for the Aggressor Fleet.
I then visited Turks and Caicos in 2018 for six weeks aboard the M/V Turks and Caicos Aggressor II, doing regular dive charters there and getting some more experience and expanding my knowledge. Captain Alex was there at the time, whom I had known since working in Belize aboard these vessels. He and I are the same age and had already held a five hundred tons license to Mann a bigger vessel, and that peeked my interest. He had so much certifications under his belt for Tech Diving, Dive Instructor, Captain and an over all well knowledgeable person. After working with him the thought was lodged behind my head about possibly one day being a Captain.
I returned to Belize where I would complete one more year aboard the M/V Belize Aggressor IV and then got transferred back to the M/V Belize Aggressor III in January of 2020. But before the transfer was finalized I was offered the opportunity by Mr. Wayne Brown to assist me with getting my two hundred tons Captain Licenses to be done in the U.S. I was shocked when given the news, it was surreal. The Ocean have and will always be my passion but never did I ever dream of having the title. I would like to say that I am truly humbled and honored for the opportunity given to me and for all those who played a part in my success a big Thank You!!!! As per everything that I do I will always do it to the best of my ability.
