By Liezl Maclean

Edwina Howard is in charge of maintaining – in painstaking detail so there`s a record of everything - the register of all ships registered in South Africa. She came. She saw. She captured. True story!

"My day is made up of registering vessels, registering or discharging mortgage bonds, amending details of the register, transferring ownership-closing registers, checking and signing documents, as well as assisting with investigations and putting together statistics," she says matter-of-factly.

She is so engaged with her work that her days start very early. In the predawn darkness, she gets to the office at 06:00, well before her shift begins, as it allows her to "do a bit of catch up work".

Multitasking queen

"You`re not able to plan anything because you have no idea what you`ll be doing five minutes down the line. At any given minute you`re busy with at least two or three jobs," she says. And if that doesn`t sound like enough work, Edwina spends the rest of her day liaising with anyone and everyone - from boat builders and lawyers to government departments and financial institutions. "This is the aspect I enjoy the most – the interaction with a wide variety of people both inside and outside of the South African

Under pressure

Good people skills are the name of the game in this industry. "You must be able to work under pressure, be diplomatic and put the client first no matter what," she explains.

As far as qualifications go, Edwina has 33 years of experience under her belt. "I know the next incumbent of this post will need to have a legal degree," she points out. "It will have to be a person who is calm, even-tempered and able to handle stress and a lot of pressure."

Old fisherman tales

She describes "listening to the stories of the old fishermen" as some of the most memorable moments of her career. On the flip side, one of the funniest moments was having to listen to all the fishermen’s complaints when they were not paid.

"They really call a spade a spade – especially so with the Cape fishermen," she explains. "I just had to sit there with a straight face, meantime inside I would be cracking up with laughter."

Although Edwina`s job requires her to work under tremendous pressure, she enjoys every minute of it. "I would not give it up for anything – this is my dream career. And after 33 years on the job, I`m now beginning to look forward to my rocking chair," she chuckles.