Page 87 - Damen Shipyards Group

86 INTERVIEW | KOMMER DAMEN 87

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR FAMILY? DO YOU THINK THERE ARE LIMITS TO
We are a very close family. My children are very close to each other and STANDARDISATION?
also to me and I am close to them. They don’t always think the same, There are certain vessels that you can’t standardise, but I think almost
though they are all very decisive. When it comes to the company, they every type you can. When you analyse your clients’ purpose and use
cooperate very well and accept the differences between themselves. of their vessel and their markets, you can design a standard vessel that
will be better, cheaper, faster for delivery, with a higher re-sale value.
And that, because the banks can predict its re-sale value, is easier to
WOULD YOU ENCOURAGE YOUR GRANDCHILDREN TO fi nance.
FOLLOW YOU INTO SHIPBUILDING?
Yes, absolutely. I already try to infl uence them; I ask them to make
me drawings of boats and I have a special archive for that – also for WHAT IS YOUR OWN PERSONAL
drawings my children made when they were young. I think it’s a nice FAVORITE DAMEN VESSEL?
industry, a nice way of life, so I will encourage them. I cannot think of I think the Stan Tug 1606. It is an extremely compact and powerful tug.
anything better as a profession. Very economically priced and lasts for ever. We started building them in
in 1972 and they’re still practically the same boat today.

CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE PEOPLE YOU STARTED
WORKING WITH IN 1969 AND DO YOU SEE THE SHIPBUILDING EXPERIENCES CYCLICAL PEAKS AND
SAME CHARACTERISTICS IN DAMEN PEOPLE TODAY? TROUGHS, WHAT HAS KEPT YOU GOING WHEN THE
When I started out there were only seven of us. We were all young INDUSTRY HAS BEEN EXPERIENCING DIFFICULT TIMES?
people so we didn’t see any risks. We were very enthusiastic, we Responsibility. You don’t want to end your life being unsuccessful.
worked extremely hard and we were very successful. Today, some That’s not how you want to be remembered. So that keeps you going.
Damen people are a lot older – like me! If I look at Young Damen
(company group arranging social and professional get-togethers for Damen Stan Tug 1606, Kommer Damen’s personal favourite vessel.
DID YOU EVER HAVE AMBITIONS TO DO young employees and students) though they are more or less alike, THIS YEAR’S DAMEN MAGAZINE HAS A FOCUS ON
ANYTHING OTHER THAN SHIPBUILDING? there’s a lot the same. Happily. SUSTAINABILITY, WHAT DOES SUSTAINABILITY MEANS ANOTHER AREA OF INTENSE FOCUS AT THIS MOMENT
I never thought about anything else. I grew up in a family of TO YOU AND TO THE INDUSTRY? IS DIGITALISATION. WE HAVE HEARD A LOT ABOUT
shipbuilders. We lived on the yard – literally. My father sent me to a It is a challenging subject for our industry. For example, you can’t HOW THIS MAY SHAPE OUR PRODUCTS IN THE FUTURE.
shipbuilding academy where I studied marine engineering and naval THE STANDARDISATION OF SHIPS HAS CLEARLY BEEN expect a ship owner to suddenly start using more expensive fuel, DO YOU THINK THAT DIGITALISATION IS ALSO GOING
architecture. After I left the navy, I went to work with my father and he A GREAT SUCCESS – ONE THAT DEMONSTRABLY it would threaten his ability to compete in the marketplace and his TO AFFECT HOW WE APPROACH OUR CLIENTS?
appointed me as general manager aged just 23. WORKED BEFORE WHEN THE VENETIANS business model would become unsustainable. So, you need regulations The internet makes it possible to investigate the possibilities of buying
STANDARDISED WARSHIP PRODUCTION IN THE in order to have a level playing fi eld. The technical solutions are there a boat, so communication is totally different to what it was years ago.
MIDDLE AGES – WHAT IS IT THAT MAKES THIS and I think we will see a lot of progress in the coming years.
PHILOSOPHY SO SUCCESSFUL? We have of course quite a number of people involved in Damen’s
It was the same with the Dutch in the 17 century. Around Amsterdam I see huge growth in renewable energy – wind, tidal, solar – there presence on the internet; we are talking to clients this way.
th
they were turning out ships every day for sailing to the Baltic, Far East will be enormous changes, but no one knows exactly what they will I also think you cannot change to the extent that we will only
and the West Indies. Cargo ships and naval vessels that were very look like. In any case, it’s good that we do our part to ensure a clean communicate with our clients via the internet. There is a personal
standardised. I think it’s the best way to success – you can continue to environment. We are already ahead in many fi elds – we have electric context though that will still require meetings, paper and pictures.
improve and it’s much cheaper. You make less mistakes and everything ferries, we had the fi rst hybrid tugs. We are fully invested in lowering
is more predictable. Because of this, in contracts, you can easily accept emissions.
conditions because you know exactly what’s going to happen. LOOKING AHEAD, WHERE WOULD YOU
We also realise that the young employees of Damen are committed to LIKE DAMEN TO BE IN 50 YEARS?
improving the world. We see that worldwide and that’s another reason We are going to have extremely disruptive changes within the next 50
we want to adapt ourselves to sustainability. years, but we are still going to need ships. I think seaborne transport
could be less. You saw in the past that seaborne transport was growing
at twice the rate as the growth of the world economy. Today it’s about
equal. But you will always have transport of commodities.

It’s diffi cult to say what the ships of the future will look like. Will people
Kommer Damen in the summer of ‘69 still travel the world for leisure? Will dredging be done from the shore?
How will fi shing and aquaculture develop? Will the global population
continue to grow? Will vessels be unmanned?
COULD THE DAMEN STORY HAPPEN TODAY?
It’s very diffi cult to say. When I started the company in the form it is in So I think there are a lot of unanswered questions. I think the only
today, it was 1969, so quite a different time. But still, we have the same thing we have to do is look about 10 years ahead and try to adapt
principles, building ships in series, trying to standardise and setting up ourselves to those 10 years. Then we can keep the company ahead of
a worldwide service organisation. So, if I should have the means to do developments and try to be a leader, which we are in many fi elds.
it, I think it would be the same.
So I don’t know what the future ships will be, I only know that Damen
will be building them.
WOULD DAMEN BE THE SAME COMPANY IF IT WAS
NOT A FAMILY BUSINESS?
Certainly not. If we should have shareholders, they would be much
more impatient about fi nancial results and dividends. It is because we
are a family company that we could make risky, sometimes loss-making,
acquisitions.
When you analyse your clients’ markets, you can
design a standard vessel that will be better, cheaper,
faster for delivery, with a higher re-sale value.