Few sectors are as international as shipping. On board you will find a mishmash of nationalities, a melting pot of cultures. What's that like? Does it make the work more interesting or more complicated? And are there any drawbacks? Three seafarers talk about their experiences. “In the 54 years I have been sailing, I have seen just about every nationality on board. Sometimes I was the only Dutch person, sometimes the Dutch were in the majority. From my early days, I remember the Indians, who arrived with a small suitcase of personal luggage. But when they left the ship, they carried with them huge bags sewn from tarpaulin. They were full of food, ship’s tools and clothing for the next crew. They did so because of the dreadful poverty in their country. Once, when an Indian engineer died on board, the family did not want the body; they had no money for the funeral. We gave him a seaman's grave. Chemical load I have also sailed a lot with Indonesians. I was then captain of large chemical tankers, ships carrying as many as 34 different types of chemicals. Those Indonesians were very experienced. That was pleasant because I didn't want to act as a teacher. And they worked very hard. I also have good experiences with Russians. They were real scientific types. That came in handy for navigation, which used to be based on mathematics. And their physics and chemistry background was very useful given the chemical load. I have also enjoyed working with Ukrainians. For example, I remember a man who was a professor in Ukraine. He couldn't get a job there, so he switched to seafaring. In 2015, an argument arose between a Ukrainian cook and a Russian first officer. The growing political unrest between the two countries led to tension on board. They stood facing one another; a lot of aggression. I had to cool that down. Murdered The Filipinos are a special case. In my early years as a captain, they were poorly trained. Later, it got better and better, and from 2004 to 2018, I enjoyed sailing with them very much. Filipinos are very musical. I play the guitar and sometimes gave guitar lessons on board. They appreciated that very much. So they were great colleagues. However, the lowest point of my career involved a Filipino. I was on leave and was called by Crew Affairs to ask if I would travel to Dakar as soon as possible to replace the Swedish captain. Once there, it turned out that he had been murdered by the Filipino mess boy. The captain had spoken to him sternly and criticised his work. The Filipino had gone crazy. Table tennis tournament If there was trouble on board, there was often alcohol involved. I have been flown in twice to replace dismissed captains: a Norwegian and a Swede. Both were fired for being drunk. Russians and Ukrainians also liked their drink. Italians often sat at the table for a long time, also with a lot of wine. The Dutch drank too much under the guise of ‘a pleasant get-together’. I remember a period when we had three stewardesses on board. Well that really put the cat among the pigeons. Everybody was chasing them, of course. And especially when drunk, they became aggressive towards each other. In 2009, alcohol was banned in the shipping industry, and the years that followed were my best years on board. But even before that, I experienced many wonderful things. On board, for instance, I sometimes organised table tennis tournaments. Especially on long crossings, from Balboa in Panama to Yokohama in Japan, for example. Then you were sailing for 22 days. Such a tournament created togetherness and a good mood. Yes, those were great things.” ←