Ida Lorenschat imagined herself on the bridge. Instead, she found her calling in the engine room. The aspiring ship mechanic shares how a summer voyage turned into an apprenticeship – and what it takes to find your feet at sea.
In the small town of Rahden, north of Bielefeld in the North German lowlands, there are neither large rivers nor lakes. The only water here is in the drainage channels crisscrossing the marshy landscape, so there’s nothing here to suggest a connection to seafaring. But there were a few things that sparked Ida Lorenschat’s longing for the sea when she was 18 years old.
“My dad’s best friend works in shipbuilding and has always told me exciting stories,” she says. “On our family vacations to Norway, Sweden and England, the ferry rides were the absolute highlight for me.” The final spark came from the TV documentary series “Verrückt nach Meer” (engl. “Crazy about the Sea”), in which a student talks about her training as a nautical officer cadet (NOA). Ida wanted to try it out for herself, so she first applied for an internship at sea. She then spent two weeks on the “Hamburg,” a German Navy frigate based in Wilhelmshaven. “We did spend one day at sea, but the rest of the time we were in port,” she says. “I found it pretty boring.” But then she heard about the Holiday Voyager Program of the German Shipowners’ Association (VDR) – and the next step was clear.
Traveling the world
During the summer holidays of 2022, Ida signed on for a month on Hapag-Lloyd’s “Ningbo Express.” A completely new world opened up to her, and she learned about the work everywhere on board – from the engine room to the bridge. The voyage took her from Dubai through the Suez Canal to Barcelona, with stops in Pakistan, India and several Mediterranean ports along the way. “Just the route itself was incredible,” she recalls.
Ida was particularly fascinated by her first glimpse of navigation on the bridge. Once back in Rahden, she applied for an NOA apprenticeship at Hapag-Lloyd – and was invited to the assessment center in Elsfleth, a town on the Weser River between Bremen and Bremerhaven. There she went through all the assessment stages: role-playing, practical exercises, tests. “A week later, Eric Hirsch from the HR Department called. I was at the orthodontist when the phone rang,” she says with a laugh. “He said that instead of an NOA, people saw me more as a ship mechanic.”
Today, she is grateful for this advice, saying: “I find working in the engine room much more exciting.” Her interest in science – she chose mathematics and physics as her main advanced courses in high school – made it easy for her to find her feet. “However, I had hardly any experience when it comes to manual things, as the most I’d ever done was put up a shelf at home,” she notes with a grin.
After an introduction in Hamburg and training ashore in subjects including welding and electronics, Ida joined the training vessel “Chicago Express.” There, she also experienced her first Christmas at sea. “We decorated like crazy, suspended countless Christmas baubles from the ceiling, hung strings of lights and tinsel, made gift boxes and put up several Christmas trees,” she says. “I don’t think we took the last one down until February.” From the meal to the exchange of gifts to singing together, the celebration was very family-like, she adds, as was the 19-day crossing to New York. “The work and lessons on board were tightly organized, but not stressful,” Ida says. “The painting and rust removal was fun because it kept raining on and off. We were constantly running inside and outside.” She had never been to New York, or even the United States, before. “Seeing Ground Zero in person is something you never forget,” she says.
I find working in the engine room much more exciting.
Part of the crew, mooring troubles in Chile
After two and a half months of vacation, which she spent at home and on numerous trips to see her beloved musicals in Hamburg, Ida boarded the “Guayaquil Express” at the beginning of June, which took her on a voyage lasting four and a half months. “It was cool not to be part of a large group of trainees anymore,” she says. “I felt like part of the crew there – even though I naturally still had a lot to learn.” Ida was not above taking on unpleasant tasks. “Wastewater disposal or emptying grease traps is certainly not a dream job, but you feel proud once you’ve done it,” she says. And her reward was all the impressive ports she got to visit.
“Caucedo, Cartagena, Manzanillo, Buenaventura, Posorja, Callao, and San Antonio – honestly, who has seen all of those places by the age of 20?”
Teamwork was also required on board the “Guayaquil Express,” especially in San Antonio, Chile, when two stern lines broke completely unexpectedly. “The waves in the harbor were rough,” she recounts. “We should have moored at a pier with vacuum devices, but they weren’t available due to an accident. So, we secured the ship in the normal way. When the lines broke, the order was immediately given: ‘All hands on deck!’ The ropes had to be secured so that they didn’t fall into the water or get tangled up somewhere. At the same time, new lines had to be put out – a complicated and dangerous task. The tension on the lines has to be extreme, as you can imagine what can happen if a ship moves uncontrollably in port. With our combined strength, we were able to safely moor the ‘Guayaquil Express’ again."
At the end of October 2024, Ida disembarked and returned to vocational school in Elsfleth for her intermediate exam, which she passed. Her best result came in the subject she had found most challenging: metalwork and technology.
A new chapter ashore
Ida’s next chapter began ashore: on June 29, 2025, she welcomed her daughter Mattea. “It wasn’t planned, but I’m happy to no end that she’s here,” she says. Ida recently moved into a small apartment near her parents, who are delighted to look after their grandchild whenever their help is needed. Her ambition to return to sea remains.
“My goal is to finish my training after my parental leave. I don’t know yet how everything will work now that I have a child, but I will trust in God and my faith while searching for a solution.”
Photos by: Thies Rätzke
Text by: Ulrike Fischer, Anne Krege