“My name is Hugo Stramrood. I’m 61 and I’ve been working for Wagenborg for 42 years now. Even as a kid I already felt at home out on the water, so it was no surprise that after finishing high school I went looking for a maritime job. I found myself with Wagenborg by a roundabout way. I started as a trainee seaman and worked my way up to my current position as a captain quite quickly.

Many special moments 

I’ve commanded various ships in the company’s fleet. The Bothniaborg was “my” ship for a few years, but I’ve been just as happy on other ships. My travels have taken me to a lot of beautiful places, such as South Korea, South America, Spitsbergen, and Australia. And I’ve also experienced many special moments during the course of my career. I’ll always remember the time when we rescued some people who were having problems with their yacht out at sea. And sailing between the icebergs north of Canada was also splendid.

Changes

Various things have changed at Wagenborg in recent years. The entire organisation has become more structured. I find it a pity that as a captain I have do to more and more paperwork. Fortunately, there are also a lot of improvements, for example in the area of human resources and crew management. And there’s also been great progress as regards safe working practices. I continue to enjoy being at sea, and I’m very curious about what the coming years will bring me, and Wagenborg too.”