Captain Diedrich Suendermann - the life of a merchant marine (cont'd)

Though he treasured his years at sea, Captain Diedrich Suendermann, general manager of Carib Star Shipping, was forced to accept the reality that there was limited scope or hope of upward movement aboard the merchant ships on which he served for 23 years.

Once you attained the level of captain, it became necessary to search elsewhere for professional growth.

Captain Suendermann 'jumped ship' in 1992 and his first assignment ashore arose when his desire for growth met opportunity.

Having safely docked, Suendermann visited the senator office in San Francisco, California to make the usual telephone calls to his family and superiors where he witnessed a staff member being fired.

He asked what position the person had held and, after being told, port captain, returned immediately to the ship and prepared his résumé.

The captain mailed his application before leaving port and, en route to Germany, was notified that he had been shortlisted for the post. Following several interviews, Captain Suendermann was relieved of his ship and moved to San Francisco.

Captain Suendermann got his first taste of island life when he joined the CMA-CGM team in 2000 in California and was later transferred to Kingston, in 2004, for a three-year stint.

Suendermann was not familiar with Jamaica and neither knew what to expect, nor what had got into him to take on this new challenge and uproot his family.

In 2007, Suendermann returned to the US after being transferred to CMA-CGM's Miami operations. Released from his contract in 2009, Suendermann was recruited by ZIM shortly after and returned to Jamaica to head up its operations. The captain believes that Jamaica's maritime and logistics sector has made remarkable strides in its development and, ultimately, will benefit greatly from the well-managed and successful privatisation of its ports.

If he were to travel back in time, Diedrich Suendermann guesses that, under similar circumstances, he would still have pursued a life at sea. He notes that he has seen many exotic places, places he would likely never have seen otherwise.

Having joined the maritime sector, he also met his wife Courtney, whose family has had a long involvement in shipping. However, when asked whether he would encourage youngsters to become seafarers or join the maritime industry today, a mischievous Captain Suendermann remarks, "Sure ... just not my son Jimmy! I have other plans for that one, he's going to become a professional baseball player so I can retire!" Suendermann laughed and said that his new dream is to manage the now 10 year-old's sporting career. He has already predicted the signing of a 10-year professional contract in eight years, which certainly negates any career at sea. He concedes, nonetheless, that his wife is the real boss and her own love of shipping may "mess up" his plans for a foray into talent management, post-retirement.