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When Peter Sterkenburg became Managing Director of Damen Shiprepair Vlissingen, Michiel de Vliegher succeeded him as Commercial Manager. Now, five and a half years later, Peter (66) is retiring and his successor is once again Michiel. Peter: “We started the transition process two years ago. I see in him someone who can take this company forward with his knowledge and skills.” Michiel jokes: “And all I have to do now is make it happen.”
On a grey, rainy day, we meet in Peter’s office with its expansive view over the Westerschelde. The outgoing managing director sees his approaching retirement date of 20 April with mixed feelings. “There are two sides to the coin. I have had a wonderful career here and on the one hand I am looking forward to retirement, but on the other hand I think I will miss the people and my daily contact with them.”
Peter Sterkenburg.
Peter has worked on the banks of the Westerschelde for almost his entire career. The exception was a brief foray with another employer at the end of 2006, but he was back again 13 months later. “I started at the company training school in 1975 and then worked in the Machine Factory in production until 1992. In 1992 I became a Salesman at the Machine Factory, in 1998 I became Head of Sales and in 2000 the Business Office was added. This continued until 2005 when the Machine Factory was sold to MRC and moved to Schiedam. From then on, I started as Head of Production at Scheldepoort until the end of 2006. When I returned to Scheldepoort in early 2008, I became Sales Manager, later Commercial Manager and Managing Director at the end of 2017.”
He has always enjoyed being in the middle of where the action is, because although his current office overlooks the Westerschelde, the shipyard is directly on the other side of the building. “This is the most beautiful job. Every day is different and here we are very close to the business and very close to the people. That has always really appealed to me.” He adds, “I’m going to miss the responsibility and especially the people. With 118 employees, DSV is a company where everybody knows each other.”
"I have had a wonderful career here and on the one hand I am looking forward to retirement, but on the other hand I think I will miss the people and my daily contact with them.” Peter Sterkenburg
The past six years have been challenging, but Peter is proud that the company has achieved good results every year during that period. “In addition, I am most proud of the fact that we have consistently managed to win major projects and complete them well. We have done great projects for the Royal Netherlands Navy, and I am also proud of Project Blue, our code name for the first superyacht project we did.”
Project Blue is currently at DSV for the seventh year in a row for new maintenance and refits and has opened the door for many more superyacht projects. “Project Blue came to us at the right time,” Peter explains. “When I started as Managing Director, we were doing a lot in the offshore market, but when that market suddenly almost stopped, so did the orders and projects. Since Project Blue, we have grown considerably in the superyacht market. We don’t publicise anything about these projects ourselves, but the superyacht world is small, and they know better and better how to find their way to us.”
Michiel de Vliegher.
For Michiel de Vliegher, this means that he starts his new position with a healthy order book, as there are many regular repair jobs and special projects in addition to superyachts. The 41-year-old father-of-two from Axel is looking forward to the new challenge. He joined DSV in 2015 as Project Manager, made the switch to Commercial Manager in 2018 and, as of 20 April, he officially takes over Peter’s duties. Jeroen Schotel, formerly Area Sales Manager at Damen Shiprepair & Conversion in Schiedam, will become the new Commercial Manager.
Michiel: “This changing of the guard comes exactly in a very busy period for our company. We are completing two refits of superyachts, as well as the mobilisation job for the floating crane Svanen, which leaves at the beginning of April. And we have been working with Damen Naval for the past year on the combination of Midlife Update and Appointed Maintenance for the HNLMS Johan de Witt. That project has just been completed. And on the agenda for the coming year are several commercial repair jobs and there are still a number of major projects that could come this year.”
In recent years, DSV has significantly expanded its project capacity. Whereas the company could previously handle one major project at a time, it can now handle three simultaneously. As a result, the internal organisation has also changed slightly. “Previously, we had one Operations Manager in our management team. As there are now three project teams, we have split the MT role between a Production Manager and a Projects Manager,” Michiel explains. “We have a flat organisation and this new division in the MT allows us to be close to all developments.”
These are busy times at DSV with several commercial repair jobs on the agenda for the coming year.
In addition to a busy order book, Michiel faces another challenge: retaining the knowledge and craftsmanship within the company. “We have many experienced people who will retire in the next ten years, and we need to look for their successors in time so that there is enough time to familiarize the new colleagues and transfer the knowledge.” He adds: “DSV is a very dynamic company. As a project manager I was working on a project, as a commercial manager I was busy winning projects and now I will have to use these puzzle pieces of experience to complete the picture as Managing Director.”
Asked if Peter has any advice for his successor, his answer is: “Above all, be yourself and listen to people. You don’t have to agree with them all, but it’s important to listen to them. Another important point: make sure you keep developing yourself. Michiel will soon start working with an almost new MT and many young people in the company. If you do it right, people will want to work for you, otherwise you’ll be fighting all day.” Michiel concludes: “In any case, I am very much looking forward to it.”