"I’m living my dream"

The likeable man introduces himself as Captain Ehab – and Herman Melville’s famous character from “Moby-Dick” immediately comes to mind. But, apart from a similar first name, Captain Ehab Elsayed Moustafa Hafez shares nothing in common with the rough captain in the novel.

Ehab Hafez welcomes his visitor in his office on the “Al Jasrah”, which is berthed at the Container Terminal Burchardkai in Hamburg. The 15,000 TEU vessels has been moored here for two days. “I’m headed on vacation now,” Captain Ehab says. He plans to spend his time off in his hometown of Alexandria, Egypt, where his family lives. Almost everyone in his family works in the shipping business. “Our house is located near the port,” the 51-year-old proudly explains. “I can smell the sea wherever I am, and I never wanted to be anything else. I’m living my dream.”

Hafez boarded his first training vessel, a small passenger ship, when he was 19 years old. Then he switched to an Egyptian shipping company before ultimately graduating from the renowned Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport in Alexandria. He advanced in the ship classes from 7,000 TEU to 15,000 TEU before eventually becoming a captain in 2008.

When asked which aspects of his job are important to him, the captain counts them off on his fingers, saying: “It’s the people with their cultural diversity nationalities, the vast sea and the weather out there, but also to sail the ship in a way that is as safe, economical and eco-friendly as possible.” For everything to work smoothly, a captain’s orders must be precise. “This isn’t a democracy here on board,” Hafez stresses.

The crew currently includes Pakistanis, Indians, Poles, Romanians, Jordanians, Filipinos and Egyptians. “You only notice the differences between nationalities at mealtimes, as the cooks take their various needs into consideration,” Hafez continues. As is the case on many ship’s, the “Al Jasrah” has a Filipino cook. “And he cooks very well,” the captain stresses. The food is healthy and respects the different religions represented on board. “That’s also how it works for Sunday dinner, when we have the Indian rice dish called biryani. And it’s also a unit of time for us,” he says with a laugh. “For example, people ask: ‘How many biryani have you already been on board?’ or say ‘Four more biryani and I’ll be home.’”

Captain Hafez has also known different times. But neither hard situations nor foul weather can deter him from fulfilling his childhood dream: a life on the high seas.