In 2004 the office of Island Marine Odessa Limited was opened in Odessa. One of the key partners of this company was the renowned Peter Döhle Schiffahrts-KG, established in 1956 in Hamburg, Germany. In August 2005 the representative office in Odessa was registered under a new name: Doehle Manning Agency Odessa Ukraine Limited. In all its activities – crewing, seafarer training and agency services – the company was guided by international standards from the very beginning, consolidating efforts to meet the most demanding requirements in seafarer recruitment industry.
In 2015 crewing divisions of Döhle Group and Columbia Shipmanagement in Ukraine consolidated their efforts by establishing a joint office in Odessa. Under a partnership agreement with Döhle Group, Columbia Shipmanagement has taken up all crewing activities in Ukraine. Partnership between international shipping companies in the field of human resources has broken new ground for employment of Ukrainian seafarers.
Döhle Group has always adhered to international operating standards, which – together with the new office’s highly responsible approach – has enabled the partners to become one of the leading companies in this line of business in Ukraine and to maintain its market-position as of today. There are at least 1,200 Ukrainian seafarers employed on the company’s vessels. And while many international representative offices start to scale down their footprint in the market and to reduce their fleet, Döhle Group, represented in Ukraine by Columbia Shipmanagement, remains a major stakeholder in the seafarer employment industry.
The company cooperates closely with higher education institutions in our country and provides support to Kherson State Maritime Academy – an educational facility, which has gained good reputation for quality cadet training. In order to provide more opportunities for cadets of the Kherson State Maritime Academy to find employment on Döhle Group vessels, крюинговая компания Columbia Shipmanagement opened an office in Kherson. As representative for Döhle Group the company constantly seeks young workforce and new vacancies for Ukrainian seafarers, offering real employment opportunities for cadets and a chance to rise to an officer’s rank within a short time. Statistical data confirm this statement: in 2016 50 cadets alone were promoted to junior officer positions.
The Döhle fleet consists of over 400 state-of-the-art container ships, including vessels of up to 13,000 TEU and around 40 bulk carriers. The company currently operates a few dozen MPP vessels and places a premium on multipurpose shipping. As representative for Döhle Group, Columbia Shipmanagement seeks to create its own pool of qualified officers and ratings for MPP vessels. This will enable to company to remain competitive and to provide high quality services in the international market.