Multinational Workforce at Global Company

Operating within the Dutch maritime industry, yet part of an international company, Keppel Verolme shipyard follows a distinguishing strategy in both acquiring projects and in training and attracting their workforce. Managing director Harold Linssen shares his vision.

“Being a branch of the truly internationally operating company Keppel Offshore & Marine, we manifest both as an individual yard and work within the framework of a large group of yards”, Keppel Verolme managing director Harold Linssen describes the international perspective at the yard, specialised in the construction and maintenance of large offshore constructions and ship repair and conversion. “We have our own sales network and our own agents. So we tender for projects by ourselves. Yet, we always have the backup of a large organisation behind us. For instance, when we learnt through our contacts at Seafox that they were planning the build of a special vessel, equipped for the installation of offshore wind turbines, we immediately said: we can build such a vessel. Following consultation with Singapore headquarters of the Keppel Group, it was decided the vessel Seafox 5 was to be built at the yard best equipped for a vessel of that kind, being Keppel FELS in Singapore. The ship, designed for operation on the North Sea, will soon come to the Rotterdam yard for the final installation of equipment. Although we get excited about the idea of being able to build such an interesting specialised vessel, too, we came to the conclusion that it would be in the best interest of our client that our colleagues at FELS would build it. This is how we can operate quite independently but still think within the interest of both the larger company we are part of and the interest of our customers.”

Follow the market

Solid international backbone from the Keppel company allows the group to follow the market. With facilities in Rotterdam, Brazil, Singapore, Azerbaijan, Texas, Kazachstan, Indonesia, thePhilippines, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and China, Keppel has narrow bonds with maritime markets all over the world. The former Verolme Shipyard in the Rotterdam Botlek harbour became a part of the international group in 2002. “Different yards choose different strategies”, Linssen reflects. “Will you go where the market is developing and thus where your customers are? Or will you go to East Asia to benefit from low wages and be able to build at competitive prices? At Keppel, the strategy is clearly to be where the market is. Being part of a company with a worldwide presence, it is always exciting to follow the markets. How will the maritime industry develop in Brazil or the Mexican Gulf? To us here in Rotterdam, progression in the offshore wind industry is of most interest. We think this is the market we should be active in the next decade.”

Keppel Verolme acquired a share of 49.9 percent in OWEC Tower, a company specialising in the construction of jackets – foundations – for offshore wind turbines in January. “We are situated just right to play an active role in the development of technology for this emerging market. Developments in the North Sea offshore industry are leading in the world. All countries surrounding the sea have highly innovative industries. On top of that, the North Sea has quite a harsh environment. We have to set the standard in constructing high quality vessels that can withstand the rough influences of a maritime nature. It will most likely be able to operate its life span in any other sea or ocean location. Because of these circumstances, the North Sea is the breeding ground for the offshore energy industry.”

“We have a lot of knowledge at the yard about construction of offshore structures for oil and gas. Regarding wind parks, cost efficiency urges the construction of less complex structures. Effective design has downsized the use of material as much as possible, while maintaining the construction’s life span for at least 25 years. One could picture these jackets as underwater Eiffel Towers, that need to withstand currents and the forces of the wind turbine on top even if it is in a gale.”

Syndicates

“At the exploitation of offshore wind parks, I expect, in the near future, one cannot distinguish Dutch, German or Norwegian parks anymore”, Linssen reflects on the increasingly international character of the business the yard is focusing on. “The most logical and effective way to successfully operate offshore wind farms is to combine skills from a group of countries working together in the North Sea. Traditionally, Norwegians have a lot of knowledge about the sea bed, Danes can add insight in meteorology, while the Dutch can build effective specialised vessels to operate along the wind farms. Will fragmented smaller companies each run one wind park, or will only a few big multinational syndicates rule the wings? As the installation of large wind parks continues and the exploitation becomes an ever more complex operation, large international syndicates will likely form. This may hopefully enforce the next level of efficiency in wind park operation. I expect to see companies getting bigger through acquisition of other operators in the installation, maintenance, production and delivery chain. The big international energy supply companies will optimise their overall output. The question remaining is: will it be the energy companies that deliver to end-users that take the leading role, or will it be technical companies that provide maintenance for the offshore parks? It is for sure, however, that the amount of money involved in the exploitation of offshore wind will be huge. Government and industry leaders in the United Kingdom calculate millions of jobs in offshore wind energy. Maybe this also forms a chance for revival of the industry sector as attractive employer. People generally have good connotations with a job that consists of sailing from one wind turbine to another for maintenance.”

Multinational workforce

In this international environment, Linssen regards it logical that the workforce also has an international structure. “Thanks to the open frontier within the European Union, a huge workforce is available. We have technicians from Portugal, Poland, Norway and Ireland to name some. The industry is very fluent. A skilled workforce can go anywhere the demand for their skills concentrates. In the 1990s there was some anxiety in the maritime industry in the Netherlands: the workforce is ageing, will we still have enough skilled people in ten to 15 years? The Schengen treaty has helped us to a great deal in attracting the kind of flexible and quality-driven personnel our yard thrives on. These are modern times. People need to be flexible to earn their living using their own personal skills. Sometimes that means moving to another country. I am glad to be part of a workforce that understands this.”

Reputation

A lot of companies in the Dutch maritime industry struggle with attracting enough young professionals to maintain their workforce. Linssen: “I am not saying there is no problem with the limited number of well-trained scholars and graduates starting careers in the Dutch maritime industry. Connection between professional education and the yard floor is poor. We have a two year education programme for new employees. I am glad to see this ensures us a sufficient new workforce. The average age of our employees is under forty. Yet, to be able to make a difference for better preparation of students from professional education for the maritime industry, I have taken up an advisory position with the Rotterdam Zadkine college in order to help shape a curriculum that can help and encourage students to join the maritime industry. There are 16,000 students in this group of schools. It seems young people are not attracted to the maritime industry, as a matter of fact to no goods production industry at all. The Holland Shipbuilding Association and the Dutch Maritime Network have a challenging task in altering the general perception of our activities. In 2005, we had lengthened a cruise ship in our docks. While finishing the project, we managed to attract a lot of publicity about this remarkable job. We wanted to get an item in the daily television news for kids, called ‘Jeugdjournaal’, on Dutch national television. Suddenly, there was a very positive image of our company as a representative of the maritime industry. My neighbours recognised that was the company I work at and addressed me with the project they saw on TV. However, we know that media marketing alone is not enough to get young people to choose the company they want to work at. Recommendations from their social circle, assuring that a company appears to be a good employer, that is what makes young professionals decide where they want to work. I would like companies in our industry to work on such reputation. Our goal is to develop and create innovative vessels and constructions in collaboration with our clients. That is a challenging process which can prove gratifying to be part of. I feel that here is part of the answer to attracting more young professionals for the maritime industry.”

Hans Buitelaar