Filipino seafarers are of a real asset on Dutch ships, and so are their Vietnamese colleagues too. Years ago, they mainly worked as deckhands, but today they are also ships’ officers and captains. Joenamar Bacuetes from the Philippines and his Vietnamese colleague Thom Nguyen are two examples.

On a windy Friday, the multipurpose vessel Amalia is moored alongside the quay in Rotterdam's Merwe harbour. From the bridge of the brand-new ship, you have a magnificent panorama of the city, with the Euromast and Erasmus Bridge prominently in view. The Amalia has come in from Spitsbergen and its next destination is Dunkirk, followed by Ghent. A big crane is unloading coal from the hold, and the ship's exterior is getting covered in a layer of black dust. In the meantime, the two captains are dealing with the handover. Captain Thom Nguyen (37) came on board yesterday, after travelling from his home country of Vietnam. He is relieving his Filipino colleague Joenamar Bacuetes (43), who will take a taxi to Schiphol Airport this afternoon to fly to Manilla. After a domestic flight and a three-hour car journey, he'll be back home in Palompon, with his wife, son (12), and daughter (8). Joenamar was the first captain of the Amalia, after the yard officially handed over the vessel to Wagenborg last January. Under his command, it set sail from Delfzijl for Stade in Germany. Joenamar has now been at sea for 20 years, five of them as a captain. ‘I've been with Wagenborg since my traineeship.’ Joenamar trained at the Palompon Institute of Technology in the Philippines. ‘I was one of the first intake. One day I noticed some tall Europeans at the institute. They turned out to be Dutch: representatives of the Royal Association of Netherlands Shipowners, which decided to support the institute with materials, ship equipment, and other items. And they also sent Dutch shipping companies our way.’ Dad was a farmer ‘When I was in my third and final year, Wagenborg came to our institute too. They took me on as a trainee – that’s how it all began.’ Joenamar didn’t have a seafaring family background at all. ‘I come from a little village up in the mountains. My dad was a farmer and my mother a housewife. I’d never seen any seafarers but after high-school I was working at a fast-food restaurant where I met someone who was studying at the maritime academy. That’s how I got interested.’ Career opportunity Unlike Joenamar, Thom was familiar with life at sea from an early age – his father is a fisherman. Thom trained at Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City University of Transport, where Wagenborg was also recruiting trainees. ‘I read about it in the university newspaper. They were looking for trainees, and they were also offering scholarships. In my fifth year, I did my graduation internship with Wagenborg: two periods of six months. I was then taken on as a third officer at the age of 24.’ Promotion Thom has worked on all kinds of ships, gaining a lot of experience as a third, second, and first officer. ‘You learn and you work. Each time after about two or three years – if I got a good assessment from the captain – I could advance to the next position.’ After two years as a first officer, Thom became a captain in 2022. ‘I'm one of just a few who've been promoted so quickly. It's not everyone who wants to advance to the highest rank on board, but my dream was always to become a captain. I first had to take a series of exams, including for English, and I had to take psychological tests too.’ Family Thom and Joenamar both have high praise for Wagenborg. Joenamar: ‘I'm really grateful for the opportunities I've been given, and for Wagenborg’s confidence in me. They've invested a lot in me.’ Thom: ‘Wagenborg treat me as one of the family.’ Because Thom and Joenamar live outside the EU, their conditions of employment aren't the same as for Dutch employees. Thom: ‘For example, I don't get paid when I'm on leave. I don't think that's entirely fair, but it is what it is.’ Leave Because they don’t continue to be paid, they both make sure their leave periods aren’t too long. Joenamar: ‘We’ve made contractual arrange­ments about that with Wagenborg . It's been agreed, for example, that I’ll go back on board after two months' leave and that Wagenborg must have a ship available for me. If they don’t, then they have to pay me compensation.’ With a smile: ‘But that never actually happens because Wagenborg has more than enough work for me. In fact, they usually phone to ask if I can go on board sooner!’ Can he refuse that request or will he then lose his job? ‘Oh no, if I want to stay at home longer, it's no problem at all.‘ ←