The training was carefully selected when Mads Ambrosen Petersen chose to become an apprentice as a ship mechanic at Thyborøn Skibs og Motor in September 2022 at the age of 17. Before that, he had worked for three months as a laborer.
- I couldn't figure out whether I should be a blacksmith or a mechanic. Here there is both blacksmithing and engine repairs in addition to working with hydraulics, says the now 19-year-old third-year apprentice Mads Ambrosen Petersen.
The training is known for educating journeymen who can do a little bit of everything at a time when there is a demand for skilled workers - also due to the green transition. Even in the electrical direction, these are valuable skills, although Mads doesn't think it's anything special.
- There's a bit of a trade, for example, of changing a relay, he explains.
Mads Ambrosen Petersen comes from Lemvig, which is just under 25 km away. In a way, his interest in craftsmanship comes a bit from home.
- My uncle is a trained auto mechanic, and my father is a trained farmer, but he works on a drilling rig now. And I had older friends who were doing the training before I started it, he says, telling about another experience:
- I was already involved in renovating cars with friends before I became an apprentice.
The interest has not changed at all since he became an apprentice.
- I am very interested in making repairs, working with engines and getting something running again.
The trip from Lemvig is not surprising, taking his own car, and until he got his driver's license, he drove with other apprentices or took the train to Thyborøn.
The work is also a hobby
It is mostly work in the maritime industry, for example on fishing vessels, which Mads works with.
- It is mostly diesel engines, but also gasoline engines, although it is less common. It could also be working on a winch on a fishing vessel, he says, pointing to a ship that is just outside the window.
But the green transition and sailing to offshore wind farms are also part of it.
- We also do maintenance work on CTVs. There are different rules, and they are faster and very powerful, explains Mads Ambrosen Petersen about the so-called crew transport vessels (CTVs) that transport wind turbine technicians to the offshore wind farms.
Teamwork is also a big part of apprenticeship life, and Thyborøn Skibs og Motor has no fewer than 13 apprentices.
- I often see the other apprentices and journeymen in my free time. We tinker a bit with motocross bikes, cars and such, and we also meet up to go out together, says Mads Ambrosen Petersen.
School stays are a regular part of the training to become a ship mechanic, and Thyborøn Skibs og Motor uses Rybners Tekniske Skole in Esbjerg. It is so far from Lemvig that there are boarding schools for the apprentices who come from far away.
- There are challenges at the school, and it is not an old-fashioned school, because there is physical learning instead of just reading and writing about it. There are ten old engines, and for example we make special tools to use on the engines, Mads says.
He already has a clear idea of what the future will look like when the apprenticeship is over.
- I am happy with what I am doing here now, and I intend to stay here, says Mads Ambrosen Petersen.
In rain and hail
Dorthe Elisabeth Werner is an accountant and is responsible for the apprentices at Thyborøn Skibs og Motor. She has seen it before – that it is popular to stay after completing an apprenticeship, although with some exceptions.
- There are some people who have studied to be machinists after they have graduated, she explains.
There is only one thing that Mads Ambrosen Petersen doesn't think is great about his job.
- It's boring to work outside when it rains and hails, he says with a smile.
DOI.dk will follow ship mechanic apprentice Mads Ambrosen Petersen from Thyborøn Skibs og Motor further when he is on a school trip at Rybners Tekniske Skole in Esbjerg in the spring of 2025 – and when he returns to get his journeyman's certificate in May 2026.
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