3rd Officer Zhang Hai Bo

"I grew up in the middle of China. At the age of 16, I had never seen the sea. Then I went to college on the coast, 1.200 kilometers far from home. I never forget the first time I saw the sea. I was amazed. It was so blue, so beautiful. Right at that moment I knew: I wanted to work on a ship.

I love the Mediterranean area very much. It is beautiful and calm throughout the year. But I also experienced seas can get rough, especially the voyage from Norway to Canada in winter. We once suffered from bad weather for almost 2 weeks. I was glad when we entered the Great Lakes with calmer water.

I first sailed via an agency in Beijing for a Turkish and a German shipping company. The contracts of the two companies were very long. I was on board for more than 13 months. It was terrible, I missed my family very much. Afterwards I got employed as 3rd officer at Wagenborg. My contract is only 6 months now. And when my mother-in-law was very ill to death, Wagenborg and the agency in Beijing arranged that I could go home immediately. I appreciated that so much.

The people at Wagenborg are very nice, I like my work and the salary is good. That is important for me, because In October my wife is going to have our baby. I will be on board then, because I need more money to support my family. In December when I go home, I will see my wife and my newborn baby. How special is that!"