A yearning to be on the waters

Certain people are born with a yearning to be on the waters. This is also the case of Captain Mihai Nistor, now First Captain of our AMADEUS Provence.

For him, being on a river vessel is more than a career choice. That yearning is what launched Captain Mihai on waterways after finishing high school in 1996, and feeds his desire to venture out on the rivers today.

The dream began in Galati, the largest Romanian port on the Danube River, situated close to the three-corner border between Moldova, Romania and Ukraine. Although no one in his family had a river-related job, Mihai chose a career on „a piece of steel“, as he puts it. After all, his home city Galati is one of the most important steelmakers in Europe, the other key activity being shipbuilding.

The change from cargo to passenger ships happened in 2007 and meant a new chapter in Mihai’s life. It brought the possibility to travel to new places, and first of all, the possibility to meet people from different countries, learn about their culture and life philosophy. When Mihai first started on the rivers, he only spoke Russian as a foreign language. Today, he is able to hold conversations in English, French and German.

In 2017, when Shipyard de Hoop in the Netherlands was building the AMADEUS Provence, Mihai remained two months in the shipyard, overseeing activities related with the construction of this 110-meter river cruise vessel. Captain Mihai was also the one who coordinated the transportation of the ship from the Netherlands to Marseille in France, from there to Arles and later to Sainte-Colombe sur Rhône, where over 200 persons participated at the Christening of the ship.

Captain Mihai Nistor has since been safely navigating the waters of the Saône and Rhône Rivers in the south of France as First Captain. We feel fortunate to have the AMADEUS Provence in his capable hands: the vessel is very well taken care of, and so are its about 140 passengers and 40 onboard crew members.