Moe recalled fondly how he first went to sea as a seven-year-old clambering up gangways with his younger brother, following their parents onto a general cargo ship where port stays stretched for weeks instead of hours. For a young boy, it was magical. 

Their journey to Sri Lanka, starting in Colombo, then the rest of the world, broadened his perspective to a world much larger than his own.  

That early experience planted a seed, though neither father nor son could have foreseen how deeply it would take root. 

Years later, Moe began a maritime career with a scholarship. At 19, he boarded his first ship in 2012 as a cadet and watched the Singapore skyline fade into the distance. 

“That moment hit me,” he recalls. “It made me feel very emotional… like I was stepping into a whole new world and adventure on my own.” 

That adventure took him through Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay. He learned about the realities of multinational crews, changing schedules, port strikes, and the importance of remaining adaptable. And then there were the tough lessons that shaped young officers. 

“As a junior, you ask a senior for help and sometimes they say, ‘School should have taught you.’ Then the next senior comes and says, ‘The previous guy should have taught you.’” 

He laughs as he tells the story, but those encounters shaped the leader he resolved to become. 

Alongside the challenges were unforgettable moments: bioluminescent seas glowing electric green like Life of Pi (“I thought I was going blind!”), spotting a Bengal tiger in Bangladesh, standing in Hobbiton during a layover in New Zealand, watching Dubai’s skyline appear like a mirage, and gazing down through Fiji’s crystal waters to the seafloor. 

“These are things you only get to experience because you sail,” he says. “They stay with you forever.”