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Captain Niels Groen (43) is used to the time cycle of his profession: three months at sea, three months at home. He doesn't get homesick. But when he receives the details of his return flight on board, he starts thinking a lot about the reunion with his wife Elske and daughters Jessie and Benthe.

"When I first went on a sea voyage as a trainee, I was soon homesick. Luckily there was an older captain, who gave me paternal advice and got me going again. It never bothered me after that. There is another feeling you can't escape as a seafarer. The feeling of powerlessness. When my grandfather died, I was sailing on the Indian Ocean. I couldn't support my family back then. At a time like that, you think ‘if only I was at home’. And I also miss out on nice things. Like my eldest daughter gaining her swimming diploma. My wife Elske's birthday. I've been home on her birthday only three times in the eighteen years we've been together. I said very clearly to her at the beginning of our relationship: don't ask me to stop. This is my job, I want to keep sailing. Fortunately, she has a good network around her. Girlfriends, parents, in-laws. She's also very independent. That's not always the case, as I’ve seen with girlfriends of colleagues. Those ladies were crying on the phone every day. These days we have a lot of communication possibilities at sea. That's very pleasant for contact with home. Video calling is not yet possible, but we can telephone, e-mail, WhatsApp and there’s Facebook too. To make it romantic I send my wife a letter once or twice a trip. That does make my daughters jealous: ‘We want a letter from Daddy too!’ The desire for my family becomes even greater when the e-mail arrives on board with the details of my return flight. Then I am already busy in my head with the fantastic moment in the arrival hall of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, when my daughters come running towards me. I always bring presents and the four of us go out to eat. Also very nice: the last time my daughters had written 'welcome home daddy' with chalk on the paving stones in the backyard. I don't want to stay till I'm 67. I think this profession is too hard for that. If I could, after forty years at sea, I'd like to stop when I'm about 61. Or working part-time. But for now, I like this work very much. There's nothing more beautiful than standing on the bridge early in the morning and watching the sun rise over the vast expanse of the sea.”←

Niels Groen has worked as a seafarer for 24 years, 15 of which for shipping company Wagenborg. He is captain of dry cargo ships and lives with his family in Hoevelaken.