A good team spirit is created by building it

Finneco II has a crew of 25 comprising Finns, Estonians and Filipinos. Tiangha has been working on the Baltic Sea since 2012 and knows the Finnish psyche relatively well.

- In comparison with Filipinos, Finns are calmer and sometimes a bit prone to just grunting, describes Tiangha, who acts as an intercultural mediator whenever new Filipinos join the crew.

Service at sea is something they will know through their vocational training, but they will not have been offered any kind of intercultural training by a shipping company. For a new Filipino sailor, learning and understanding the straightforward Finnish culture may be a real leap into the unknown. Having worked together with Finns for more than ten years, Tiangha is helping other Filipino crew members with intercultural communication.

- I often explain to new Filipino "crew" that they shouldn’t take it personally if a Finn seems to withdraw or give only the briefest of replies. That’s just the way Finns communicate, Tiangha says.