‘I’d dreamt of working on one of the ships I saw on the lake since I was a child’: how a job done every day with dedication and a smile is changing
Those ships he’d seen since he was a child, with his eyes full of wonder and amazement, became a fascinating job for him when he reached adulthood. For Piero Fazio, stoker of Navigazione Lago di Como, working on board a ship is a dream come true. ‘I joined Navigazione Laghi in 1992 and have been the Concordia’s stoker since 1998’, says Piero. ‘Over the years I’ve followed developments in a profession which is not generally very well known outside the sector. In the past the job of a stoker was to load coal up into historic steamships, now my job is monitoring temperatures, pressure and the efficiency of a modern boiler. I loved it right away and felt welcomed to a pleasant working environment from the start, a world made up of people who have, over the years, become much more than colleagues.’ Ship stokers feed boilers, constantly monitoring water temperature and regulating combustion in such a way as to ensure optimal heating system functioning and take action in the event of malfunctioning or problems. ‘I worked closely with the machinist,’ explains Piero, ‘working hard at my job with dedication and a smile.’
Going out on the Concordia was always a pleasure for Piero: ‘Every Sunday, from April to September, I worked on board the steamship,’ he goes on, ‘and every day I felt the thrill of doing a job I loved right from the start. There was always someone coming to say ‘hello’ and ‘well done’ and it was this which made all the hard work worthwhile.’ Piero Fazio has now passed his skills onto Alessio Molinari, a young man interested in the work, and retires on the first of July. ‘The night of the fireworks was the end of my time as stoker,’ says Piero. ‘It couldn’t have been a better ending for me, a night of fun with the traditional Lake Como firework and music show.’
