What really matters is that you are smart!

Monday afternoon at Hamburg’s Altenwerder Container Terminal (CTA). Autonomous vehicles scurry across the quay transporting containers from point A to point B. Five gantry cranes simultaneously unload and load the “Guayaquil Express”, which has just arrived from London. As always, the schedule is tight. You hear rumbling and rattling noises as the crane operators place the steel boxes on top of each other. The ship, which is over 330 metres long, has a total capacity of 10,589 TEU. For Pia Kulp, this logistics spectacle is part of her everyday work: the 26-year-old works for Hapag-Lloyd as a nautical watch officer. Dressed in a white overall she marches purposefully across the deck of “Guayaquil Express”. “While we’re in port, I monitor the cargo handling,” she explains. “I check whether dangerous goods are loaded correctly, check the ship’s lines and check whether the securing devices on the containers are tight enough and correctly fitted.” This is Kulp’s third voyage as a nautical watch officer. “It was all exciting at first, but now I’m more used to it.” Everyone has their clearly assigned tasks on board. That gives reassurance. And if any doubts arise? “Then I can always ask my colleagues. But basically I tell myself: so many people have done this before me – I can do it too.”

From the Kiel Canal to the oceans
The fact that Kulp ended up in the shipping industry was more of a coincidence. Flower shop, police, public utilities: during her school years, she tried out many internships. But nothing really fit. Then she met the pilot Gerd Pitschmann at a nautical chart publishing house. “He took me on a trip through the Kiel Canal.” It didn’t blow her away, says the Rendsburg native, but it left a lasting impression: She began travelling with him regularly at weekends. The time it really clicked was during an internship on board a containership. In 2018, she finally joined Hapag-Lloyd as a nautical officer’s assistant (NOA).
She made her first voyage together with ten other NOAs on the shipping company’s training ship “Chicago Express”. They travelled for a total of three months, learning the basics on board. “It was like being on a school trip,” says Kulp and laughs. There was another reason this was a special experience for her: she met her boyfriend, who was likewise training to become an NOA. “The crewing department is kind enough to organise our schedules so that we have time off at the same time,” she says. However, travelling together is no longer an option for the two of them. “We did that during our time as trainees, which was nice. But now it is no longer appropriate,” says Kulp.

The challenge of studying nautical science
The most challenging time began for her in 2020 after she had completed her mandatory initial year at sea: the three-year nautical studies programme in Flensburg: “Maths and technology aren’t really my thing,” she admits. But Kulp struggled through, her goal of travelling the world firmly on her mind. “I’ve always enjoyed travelling – with my family or on my own. Whenever I was on holiday, I was going some place.” Now she is living her dream. The fact that she is often away from home for months at a time doesn’t bother her – on the contrary. “I think it’s great that after two or three months of travelling, I can be at home for a longer period of time.” If that doesn’t work out at some point, you can always look for another model, explains the 26-year-old with North German pragmatism.

A self-confident demeanour and a certain
quick-wittedness are part of the job.

Navigate, monitor, respond
She has now slipped into her officer’s uniform – white shirt, navy blue trousers. “I wear these on patrol trips, i.e. when we call at or leave a port or sail through the Panama Canal, for example,” she explains. “Actually, whenever a pilot is expected.” She casts a scrutinising glance at the logbook. “At sea, we update it every hour, noting weather observations and the ship’s position. In port, we only enter the data every six hours since we’re not moving.” Navigating is what she enjoys most: “I like planning routes. In bad weather, it can happen that I have to re-plan the route three times – so much the better!”

As a nautical officer of the watch, she is also in charge of the lookout and checking that the vessel stays the course. Kulp always keeps an eye on the alarm systems, as well. “There are bilges down in the holds. These are large bathtubs that collect water,” she explains. “If they fill up due to rain, an alarm goes off – then we have to react and pump out the water if possible. This is just one of many alarms that can be triggered and require checking.”

Most crew members have no problem taking instructions from her. However, she still encounters prejudices from time to time. She particularly remembers her second voyage as NOA: “The captain kept saying things like: ‘You do realise that women on board are bad luck, don’t you? At first I just smiled. At some point, I said dryly that it was funny that we were still travelling. Then it was quiet.” A self-confident demeanour and a certain quick-wittedness are part of the job.

Pia Kulp has a clear compass: “I think that the shipping industry offers very attractive job opportunities to men and women alike, especially at a modern company like Hapag-Lloyd. It doesn’t matter what gender you are. What really matters is that you are smart!” She doesn’t miss role models on board: “I go my own way.” Nevertheless, this always takes her back to the place where it all began: on the pilot boat in Kiel Canal. “When I’m not at sea, I visit Gerd regularly. Then we go for a spin together – just like we used to.