Maritime
After graduating from the Merchant Marine
Academy of Den Helder in 1973, one of my first ships was the s.s. Statendam as
3rd officer. Here the ship is seen entering the port of Hamilton,
Bermuda, where we stayed 3 days every week on cruises from New York.
I also sailed on the
smallest cruise ship of Holland America Line, the m/v Prinsendam. This ship
mostly sailed in Alaskan waters during the summer season and Indonesian ports
during the winter months.
Unfortunately the
m/v Prinsendam caught fire off the coast of Alaska and eventually sank. All
passengers and crew were rescued.
Most of my sailing
career I sailed on the flag ship Rotterdam. This ship was built in 1959 and
considered as one of the “Grand Old Ladies” of the Atlantic. My first trip on this
ship was in 1973 as an apprentice. After going through the ranks of deck
officer, I left the ship in 1984 as senior second officer. On the Rotterdam I
sailed Caribbean, Alaska, Panama Canal and several world cruises.
In 1984 I accepted a position as a surveyor with the Shipping Inspectorate, part of the Netherlands Ministry of Transport. Apart from making sure that ships flying the flag of the Netherlands complied with all the safety rules, the job also involved inspecting foreign ships visiting Dutch ports.
This activity is called Port State Control,
which was started as a regional European undertaking in 1982. Since then many
new members have joined and the co-operative agreement (Paris Memorandum of
Understanding on Port State Control) is now enforced by 20 countries. The
Secretariat is located in The Hague, the Netherlands.
Since 1997 I have been General Secretary of
the organization, which is aiming to eradicate sub-standard ships. More
information can be found on the website of the Paris
Memorandum.
Dedication m.s. “Oosterdam” – 130 years Holland
America
On 29 July 2003 the newest addition to the
Holland America fleet was dedicated by H.R.H. Princess Margriet of the
Netherlands, who will be the god mother of the m.s. Oosterdam.
The event took place in Rotterdam in front
of the old HAL office, which is now Hotel New York, situated in the newly
developed area of the port of Rotterdam.
In view of the 130th anniversary
of “the Line” the flag ship m.s. “Rotterdam” also joined in the festivities.
Both ships were docked nose-to-nose at the Wilhelminakade, where once proud
ocean liners sailed with emigrants to New York.
Favourite websites
Steamship Rotterdam Foundation