Crew changes were often delayed, and the food felt as if it was provided on a very low budget. The company provided 1 GB of internet per month, while salaries were paid on time.
Crew changes were often delayed. Career progression required three promotions from captains who had already worked for the company several times.
I completed three contracts with Astrobulk. After my first contract, my salary was reduced, and after my second contract I passed an interview and was promised promotion, but it was not granted. I was later required to attend another interview, which was also successful, but I was told to complete another contract in the same position. The food was generally very basic and depended heavily on the cook and captain, while the supply situation was extremely poor. There was also a great deal of duplicated paperwork and inconsistent attention to important and minor issues.
I worked with Astrobulk until recently and was expected to return to my vessel, but I left after disagreements over an additional harassment and bullying certificate and over pay. The office insisted that I obtain an expensive certificate, although I proposed alternatives and provided international documents. In my last contract, it took about a month and around 25 emails to request sunshades for the bridge windows, but the request was rejected as too expensive. The company has a great deal of paperwork and repetitive correspondence, no clear salary scale, and very limited travel-expense reimbursement.
About a week after joining, I was repeatedly questioned over a bucket and new straps for securing fire extinguishers, even though they had been ordered by the previous captain. Later, one ECDIS failed, and the promised paper charts for the voyage were not delivered, so we sailed with one malfunctioning ECDIS; it also began freezing because of the high temperature on the bridge. After this contract, the company decided not to rehire me.