Ever pondered a career that takes you from the vastness of the sea to the stability of land? While the image of a ship’s captain may be the first that comes to mind, the maritime world is teeming with diverse possibilities and even a captain’s journey can be full of adventurous detours.
Meet Rainer Hammacher, one of the seasoned captains steering the course of the research vessel METEOR. His journey is nothing short of intriguing. Post-high school, Rainer embarked on a unique detour—three months in a kibbutz followed by a stint in the German army. Initially aspiring to be a helicopter pilot, fate led him to nautical education in 1977. He learned the job of a navigational officer through the various ranks and eventually started going to sea on container ships. Life’s twists continued as he pivoted back to land to support his wife and young family, while he also ran a successful travel agency for two decades.
As the travel industry landscape shifted with the rise of online platforms, Rainer found himself returning to the sea in 2004 and became captain soon after. In 2013, he assumed the role of Captain on the METEOR. Reflecting on his experiences, Rainer is grateful for the career shift, noting that he spent more quality time with his family during breaks between research voyages than during his travel agency days.
His career at sea hasn’t always been a smooth sail. From a medical evacuation in remote locales like Tristan da Cunha to navigating through pirate-infested waters in the Gulf of Aden, Rainer’s adventures are far from ordinary. What sets his career path apart is the blend of sea life realities—he enjoys the operational intricacies of cargo ships and relishes the perks that come with being on a research vessel, from onboard gyms to buffet meals, internet connectivity and interactions with scientists.
For the upcoming generation eyeing a career on the high seas, Rainer’s advice echoes through the waves: Embrace the adventure. Despite the challenges and declining opportunities, the sea promises a unique and rewarding path for those bold enough to navigate it.
DURCH EIN MEER VON MÖGLICHKEITEN: DIE REISE EINES KAPITÄNS
Hast du jemals darüber nachgedacht, eine Karriere zu wählen, die zwischen der Weite des Meeres und der Stabilität des Landes wechselt?
Obwohl der Gedanke an den Beruf eines Schiffskapitäns vielleicht zuerst kommt, wenn man an die Seefahrt denkt, bietet die maritime Welt zahlreiche vielfältige Möglichkeiten. Und selbst die Reise eines Kapitäns kann voller abenteuerlicher Umwege sein.
Lerne Rainer Hammacher kennen, einen der erfahrenen Kapitäne, die den Kurs des Forschungsschiffs METEOR steuern. Sein Werdegang ist vielfältig und faszinierend. Nach dem Abitur verbrachte Rainer drei Monate in einem Kibbuz. Danach verpflichtete er sich bei der deutschen Bundeswehr, ursprünglich mit dem Wunsch Hubschrauberpilot zu werden. Doch das Schicksal führte ihn 1977 zur nautischen Ausbildung. Er erlernte den Beruf eines Schiffsoffiziers, indem er die verschiedenen Ränge absolvierte und schließlich überwiegend auf Schwergutschiffen zur See zu fuhr. Das Leben nahm weitere Wendungen, als er aus familiären Gründen die Seefahrt zurückließ und an Land wechselte, wo er erfolgreich zwei Jahrzehnte lang ein Reisebüro leitete. Als sich die Reisebranche mit dem Aufkommen von Online-Plattformen veränderte, fand sich Rainer 2004 wieder auf dem Meer, wo er schnell zum Kapitän aufstieg. 2013 übernahm er die Rolle des Kapitäns auf dem Forschungsschiff METEOR. Wenn Rainer auf seine Erfahrungen zurückblickt, ist er dankbar für den beruflichen Wechsel und stellt fest, dass er während der Landgänge zwischen Forschungsreisen mehr Zeit mit seiner Familie verbringen konnte als während seiner Reisebüro-Zeit.
Seine Karriere auf See war nicht immer eine glatte Fahrt. Von einer medizinischen Evakuierung an abgelegenen Orten wie Tristan da Cunha bis zur Navigation durch von Piraten belastete Gewässer im Golf von Aden sind Rainers Abenteuer alles andere als gewöhnlich. Was seine Karriere auszeichnet, ist die Mischung aus den verschiedenen Versionen des Lebens auf See – er schätzt die operativen Feinheiten von Schwergutschiffen und genießt die sozialen Aspekte, die mit der Arbeit auf einem Forschungsschiff einhergehen, angefangen bei Bord-Fitnessstudios bis hin zu Buffet-Mahlzeiten, Internetverbindung und dem Austausch mit Wissenschaftlern. Für die aufstrebende Generation, die eine Karriere auf See ins Auge fasst, hallt Rainers Rat durch die Wellen: Ergreife das Abenteuer. Trotz der Herausforderungen und schwindender Möglichkeiten verspricht das Meer einen einzigartigen und lohnenden Weg für diejenigen, die mutig genug sind, es zu befahren.
ΤΑΞΙΔΕΥΟΝΤΑΣ ΣΕ ΜΙΑ ΘΑΛΑΣΣΑ ΓΕΜΑΤΗ ΕΥΚΑΙΡΙΕΣ: Η ΔΙΑΔΡΟΜΗ ΕΝΟΣ ΚΑΠΕΤΑΝΙΟΥ
Έχετε ποτέ αναλογιστεί μια καριέρα που θα σας πάρει μακριά από την απεραντοσύνη της θάλασσας, στη σταθερότητα της στεριάς; Αν και η εικόνα του καπετάνιου ενός πλοίου είναι ίσως η πρώτη που έρχεται στο νου, ο κόσμος της θάλασσας βρίθει δυνατοτήτων και ακόμα και το ταξίδι ενός καπετάνιου μπορεί να είναι γεμάτο από περιπετειώδεις παρακάμψεις.
Σας συστήνουμε τον Rainer Hammacher, έναν πραγματικό θαλασσόλυκο, έναν από τους έμπειρους καπετάνιους που δίνουν ρότα στο ερευνητικό πλοίο METEOR. ΤΟ ταξίδι του ως εδώ είναι συναρπαστικό. Μετά το λύκειο, ο Rainer πέρασε τρεις μήνες σε ένα κιμπούτς. Στη συνέχεια εντάχθηκε στο γερμανικό στρατό, με την ελπίδα να γίνει πιλότος ελικοπτέρου. Η μοίρα όμως τον οδήγησε στη ναυτική εκπαίδευση το 1977. Έμαθε τη δουλειά του αξιωματικού μέσα από διαφορετικές βαθμίδες και τελικά ξεκίνησε να ταξιδεύει με ποντοπόρα πλοία μεταφοράς κοντέινερ. Τα γυρίσματα της μοίρας όμως συνέχισαν καθώς βγήκε εκ νέου στη στεριά για να υποστηρίξει τη σύζυγο και την οικογένειά του, ενώ έτρεχε και ένα επιτυχημένο ταξιδιωτικό γραφείο για μια εικοσαετία.
Όταν το περιβάλλον της τουριστικής βιομηχανίας άλλαξε με την άνοδο των διαδικτυακών τουριστικών γραφείων, ο Rainer επέστρεψε στη θάλασσα το 2004 και έγινε καπετάνιος λίγο καιρό μετά. Το 2013 ανέλαβε καπετάνιος του ερευνητικού πλοίου METEOR. Κάνοντας την ανασκόπησή του, ο Rainer είναι ευγνώμων για την αλλαγή καριέρας σημειώνοντας ότι πλέον περνάει πιο πολύ ποιοτικό χρόνο με την οικογένειά του κατά τα διαλείμματα ανάμεσα στα ερευνητικά προγράμματα, από όσο περνούσε όταν δούλευε στο τουριστικό γραφείο.
Η καριέρα του δεν ήταν πάντοτε εύκολη. Από επείγουσες ιατρικές ανάγκες σε απομακρυσμένες τοποθεσίες όπως το Tristan da Cunha μέχρι την πλοήγηση σε περιοχές γεμάτες πειρατές όπως ο κόλπος του Άντεν, οι περιπέτειες του Rainer, απέχουν πολύ από το συνηθισμένο. Αυτό που διακρίνει την καριέρα του και τη ζωή του είναι η μίξη από διαφορετικές πραγματικότητες. Απολαμβάνει τις επιχειρησιακές δυσκολίες ενός εμπορικού πλοίου όσο και τα πλεονεκτήματα ενός ερευνητικού πλοίου, όπως το γυμναστήριο, τον πλούσιο μπουφέ, τη σύνδεση στο ίντερνετ και την επαφή με τους επιστήμονες.
Για τις μελλοντικές γενιές που προσβλέπουν σε μια καριέρα στη θάλασσα, η συμβουλή του Rainer, αντηχεί πάνω από τα κύματα: Αγαπήστε την περιπέτεια. Παρά τις δυσκολίες και τις μειωμένες ευκαιρίες η θάλασσα υπόσχεται μοναδικές και ανταποδοτικές εμπειρίες για όσους έχουν το θάρρος να την ταξιδέψουν.
Kapitän Rainer Hammacher auf der Brücke des F/S METEOR.
Ο καπετάνιος Rainer Hammacher στη γέφυρα του ερευνητικού πλοίου METEOR
Credit: Derya Gürer / OceanBlogs
Ocean Acidification
Dr Heidarzadeh’s TV interview with SkyNews on the massive M7.7 Panama earthquake on 9 October 2026
Dr Heidarzadeh’s TV interview with SkyNews on the massive M7.7 Panama earthquake on 9 October 2026. Click here for the full story.
Dr Heidarzadeh’s TV interview with SkyNews on the massive M7.7 Panama earthquake on 9 October 2026
Our ocean is an incredibly vast and mysterious place. And there is no place where that is more evident than the deepest ocean area in the world: the legendary Mariana Trench. Located east of the Philippines, the Mariana Trench lies in the Mariana Archipelago in the western portion of the North Pacific. The greater area of the Mariana Trench Marine National Monument is made up of more than 95,000 square miles of ocean. Beneath these waters lie incredibly complex aggregations of submerged islands and volcanoes … and of course, an astoundingly massive trench.
Dive in with us to have your biggest questions answered about the famed Mariana Trench.
How deep is the Mariana Trench?
The deepest part of the Mariana Trench, known as Challenger Deep, is almost 36,000 feet below the ocean’s surface. For context, Mount Everest is about 29,000 feet above sea level, so the Mariana Trench is about 7,000 feet deeper than Mount Everest is tall. For one more comparison, the RMS Titanic lies at a depth of about 12,500 feet below sea level. The Challenger Deep is in waters nearly three times deeper than this ship’s final resting place.
Due to its enormous size, the Mariana Trench has at times been affectionately nicknamed the Grand Canyon of the ocean. This is certainly a picturesque image, but don’t let the mammoth size of this U.S. national terrestrial park fool you into thinking the Mariana Trench matches its size. The trench’s footprint is estimated to be 120 times larger than the Grand Canyon’s, and to reach the bottom of Challenger Deep, you’d need to descend through almost six Grand Canyons stacked on top of each other before you’d reach the seafloor.
Oh … and did we mention it’s five times wider than it is deep? It’s about 43 miles wide!
What is Challenger Deep, and how long would it take to reach it?
Challenger Deep is the deepest point of the Mariana Trench. Fewer than 30 people have ever journeyed to this area. The trek below the surface is long, dark and time-consuming, and it’s not an expedition considered lightly by scientists and explorers.
The first people to descend into the depths of this area in 1960 were oceanographers Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh, and it took them close to five hours to reach Challenger Deep. Since then, more advanced submersibles have been created, but it still takes two to four hours for modern vessels to reach such depths. For example, explorer and filmmaker James Cameron reached the seafloor in a little more than 2.5 hours in the first documented solo submarine dive to the area, and it took oceanographer Dr. Dawn Wright about four hours in 2022. It is crucial that these submersibles descend slowly and steadily beneath the surface, as the immense water pressure compounds with every mile a submersible descends. Speaking of pressure …
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What is the water pressure at the bottom of the Mariana Trench?
If you thought the depth of the Mariana Trench was its only jaw-dropping feature, think again. Water pressure is one of the most important factors affecting deep-sea life. In the ocean, pressure increases by one atmosphere for every 33 feet (10 meters) of depth. One atmosphere (a unit of measurement for pressure equivalent to average air pressure at sea level) is equal to about 14.7 pounds per square inch (PSI), which is the approximate standard atmospheric pressure at sea level. If you were to convert atmospheric pressure into weight, one atmosphere is about the weight of a bowling ball. Stay with me, friends.
If a vessel were to dive 2,000 feet below the surface, the pressure would equal that of 60 bowling balls stacked atop every square inch of that submersible. But 60 bowling balls is simply nothing compared to the pressure in the Mariana Trench. The atmospheric pressure at the depths of Challenger Deep is equal to about 16,000 PSI. That pressure is about the same as the weight of an entire full-grown elephant on every square inch of a submersible!
Need a more extreme comparison? If a human were to be placed at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the pressure would be equal to that of 50 jumbo jets piled on top of a person!
Do any animals live in the Mariana Trench?
The depths of the Mariana Trench come with immense pressure and extreme darkness, but somehow, life finds a way to survive. Organisms that live at an extreme depth, like that of Challenger Deep, have to be highly adapted to low temperatures (typically just above freezing), high pressure and virtually no light at all.
Species found in the depths of the Mariana Trench might look vastly different from animals from other ocean depths because their anatomy has been refined to thrive in harsh conditions. At such great depths, these animals typically depend on chemosynthesis (using nutrient-rich waters being pumped out of hydrothermal vents) or descending detritus (dead matter that has fallen from higher parts of the ocean) for food, such as whale falls. Just a handful of these animals include species of octopuses and squids, sea cucumbers, amphipods, sea jellies, shrimp, sea worms and some wild-looking fish!
In 2025, more than 7,000 new species were discovered in the Mariana Trench, including the hadal snailfish (Pseudoliparis swirei). This is the deepest-dwelling fish currently known to science. Now, the fish has been dubbed “the Mariana snailfish.”
How was the Mariana Trench formed?
The process by which the Mariana Trench was created is a geologically fascinating one known as subduction. On the Earth’s surface, there are thin plates that cover the planet’s mantle, which is made of molten rock. If two of these plates collide, one pushes down into the Earth’s mantle while the other is pushed over the bottom plate. When this happens, a trench is formed from the drag of the bottom plate. This process can sometimes create incredibly strong earthquakes. The plates that forged the Mariana Trench’s creation are estimated to be up to approximately 180 million years old.
This trench was unknown to scientists until 1875. It was then that a team of explorers on the HMS Challenger measured the depth of the sea by simply lowering a weighted rope into the water. They were baffled when they measured that first portion of the seafloor to be five miles below the surface. And so was born the origin of some of the most daring deep-sea explorations known to mankind to date.
Is the Mariana Trench protected?
The Mariana Trench is in waters off Guam and the Mariana Islands. The region is protected from some human activities und