Monday, February 12, 2007
Cruise ship skipper expresses high regard for Pinoy crew
By Bong Garcia
JARLE Flateboe, the Norwegian skipper of the German-registered cruise ship m/s Albatross that dropped anchor in Zamboanga City, expressed high regard for his Filipino crew.
"They are highly skilled and professional people. It is very nice to work with them," Flateboe told Sun.Star in an interview.
Flateboe said there are 140 Filipinos of the 320 crewmembers working aboard the German-registered cruise ship. One of them is a Zamboangueño, who works as a cabin crew.
Assistant housekeeper Ronald Lorenzo, who hails from Santiago City, Isabela, said that of the 142 Filipino crewmembers, three hold the rank of officer.
Aside from Lorenzo, the other two Filipino officers are hotel comptroller and provision master.
Lorenzo has been working aboard m/s Albatros since 2003.
Flateboe said that Filipino crew could work well with other nationalities.
"They have international minds, which is important (to work in a cruise ship)," Flateboe said of the Filipino crew.
He noted that even the harbor pilots who docked m/s Albatross were also professional and friendly.
Before commanding a cruise ship, Flateboe said he had been working with Filipino crew since the time he became a ship captain.
Lorenzo said that all of the Filipino crew aboard m/s Albatross were hotel personnel and include waiters, cabin crew, bartenders and others.
"Believe sila sa mga Pilipino dahil masisipag at magaling mag-salita ng Ingles (They have high regard for Filipinos because of their being hard working and they can communicate well in English language)," Lorenzo said.
M/s Albatross, which is loaded with 480 tourists mostly Germans, Hollanders and a Japanese couple, dropped anchor on Feb. 9 in this city.
The ship is on a 156-day worldwide cruise that will end on May 5 in Germany.
While in the city, the tourists, including some of the crew, visited the different historical and cultural sites of the city.
Some of them went swimming in the Greater Sta. Cruz Island while the others went strolling and shopping downtown.
The ship left Friday afternoon towards their next stop, which is Indonesia.
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Pampanga. (February 12, 2007 issue)
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