‘Mutual respect is most important’

As the first Senior Filipino officer in a German fleet, Capt. Federico Lacaste de la Cruz is indeed the face of international shipping. The Pangasinan native personifies the grit, flexibility, loyalty and enduring spirit of a worker, having logged 33 years of uninterrupted service as a seafarer to vessels owned by the Döhle Group which he joined from the time of his graduation from the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy (PMMA).

It is a testament to his dedication and loyalty to the Döhle Group, one of the leading providers of shipping services worldwide and which operates a modern fleet of around 500 container vessels, multi-purpose vessels and bulk carriers. When the Döhle Group started hiring nationalities to man the growing fleet, De la Cruz was one of the first non-German crew members to be hired.