Hamburg shipping group providing financial, commercial and technical support, insurance and crew management, together with chartering and sale and purchase.
I have been with Peter Döhle for 20 years. Salaries are increased every year; the chief engineer’s salary is €8,800 and the second engineer’s salary is €8,900. Able seamen on my vessels have earned around €1,800, and contracts are usually four months.
I started my career with Peter Döhle and initially found the company excellent. Over time, however, the standards declined significantly. The company stopped building new vessels, many ships were put up for sale, and its focus shifted more toward third-party management.
I work on a container vessel through Peter Döhle and Columbia Shipmanagement. Everything generally suits me: the provisions are excellent and the salary is paid on time. Spare parts arrive when they are ordered well in advance, and service engineers carry out overhauls of the main engine and other machinery.
Around 20 years ago, I visited the Peter Döhle crewing office as a deck rating looking for a job. I passed the Marlin test with a score of 99%, but the staff suggested that my English was too strong for a rating position and that I should work on the bridge instead. I understood this as a preference for ratings who would simply follow orders and perform heavy work.
I have been working with Peter Döhle since 2019 and have not encountered the problems described by some other crew members. The salary is above market level and is paid on time; there is also a bonus system. The vessels are in generally acceptable condition, promotion is possible, and the company provides internet access and has reduced paperwork through digital systems.
I worked for Peter Döhle for a couple of contracts. Conditions varied considerably, from very poor to acceptable, depending on the vessel. In another assignment, the salary was slightly above average, but the crew was heavily reduced, crew changes were problematic, and supplies were not handled well.
I have worked with Peter Döhle since 2013. In my experience, it has been one of the better options for container vessels, with decent pay, good vessel condition and supply, and a generally humane attitude from the company. The company is also changing its management approach and expanding with new vessels.
I completed all the required stages of the hiring process, and the company confirmed me for the job. After that, they stopped responding. I eventually went to another crewing company.
Doehle completely refuses to hire sailors with Russian citizenship. There have already been cases where a person waits for a contract, but in the usual Doehle manner, they do not even bother to inform him at the last moment that he no longer works here. Therefore, those with a red passport are advised not to wait until the last moment and to move on to other companies now.