Guest column: Dashing expertise

Yesterday I was asked whether I could ‘dash off’ a ‘quick column’ of 450 words discussing multi-purpose vessels and the worldwide market while still managing to inspire the reader, impart that special ‘Orange-y feeling’ and be a subtle plug for Damen…oh, and could I deliver as soon as possible? The problem is, I’m no expert in multi-purpose vessels, I’m a salesman. Luckily, my job takes me to many clients and their countries. Here’s what I see.

‘My’ territory, North and South America, is characterised by geographic extremes – extremes of all sorts that lead to the need for all different types of vessels. Virtually all of the natural resources that are worth extracting, as well as the markets that need them, can be found in this region. The region is not just one of the largest manufacturers of cocaine, it is also its largest consumer. The region encompasses both the richest and the poorest countries in the world, a fact that encourages migration. From breathtaking natural beauty to strip mines and fisheries, through border disputes to offshore oil & gas. The fact that all of these elements are connected to one another by oceans and rivers makes it a market that has enormous potential for a family-owned business in Gorinchem that specialises in various types of multi-purpose vessels.

Oil, fish, bauxite, soy, ethanol, iron ore and coal are some of the primary drivers of emerging wealth, bolstering purchasing power and stimulating imports and growing populations. Whether you’re looking at the problematic infrastructure in Rio de Janeiro in the run-up to the World Cup and the Olympic games, the inland shipping in Paraguay that accounts for the transport of 80% of the country’s exports or the plans to expand the harbour in Kingston, Jamaica, there is only one conclusion to be drawn: there is an awful lot of work to be done here.

What does the Netherlands have to offer this region? Looking over the washlands towards the Merwede every day, I see endless possibilities sail by in this ‘living showroom’. Heavy push tugs on their way to Germany, tugboats bringing hulls to be delivered, the National Police Corps performing inspections and enforcing the law, the Department of Public Works and Water Management monitoring the status of the river and making sure that its waters are dredged and its banks are shored up where necessary, a floating garage transporting cars from the Ruhr region in Germany to Rotterdam for further transport and the reliable ferry between Gorinchem and Hardinxveld doing its hourly rounds.

The answer? Expertise. Not just in designing and building ships, but expertise in organising information and flows of goods in logistics chains, facilitating cooperation between academic institutes, running manufacturing companies and providing marine contracting services and, above all, operating innovative enterprises with long-term vision in a sector that can be both risky and capital-intensive. The full range of specialised knowledge and quality products from the Dutch Maritime Cluster is available to this dynamic and colourful region.

What do we have to offer? Vessels of every sort and size that can do every type of work and meet every sort of target. That is Damen. That is Maritime. That is Holland.

Sander van Oord Sales Director Americas Damen Shipyards Group