Melissa’s maritime career began with ocean sailing crossings and yacht deliveries, progressing through the ranks to become a skipper operating in the South of France before transitioning into yacht engineering in 2008.

Over the following 17 years, she served as Chief Engineer on a variety of yachts around the world, some in extremely remote locations, developing extensive knowledge in vessel systems, maintenance, and operational performance.

Her most recent sea-going role was as Chief Engineer on a new-build 37 meter yacht, overseeing the project from construction through to launch and its maiden voyage of around 8000 nautical miles from the Eastern Mediterranean, across the Atlantic ocean to the Caribbean sea, America and thereafter through the Panama canal. This experience provided invaluable insight into important aspects – from build and commissioning to its long-distance operational performance.

After many years at sea, Melissa transitioned ashore, bringing her technical knowledge into roles including Quality Control at a catamaran boat-building facility in South Africa and Technical Manager for a fleet of yachts in Egypt.

Drawing on this broad industry experience, M J van der Walt was established to provide practical insight and trusted technical assistance to the yachting community, helping ensure yachts are built, maintained, and operated to the highest standards of quality, safety, and reliability.