On November 1, Jan Kees Pilaar took over the daily general management of Rotterdam Ship Repair. Founder and former director Leo Baks has since retired, but remains on as an advisor to the company.
The management team now consists of Jan Kees Pilaar (Managing Director), Oscar van Dijk (Commercial Manager) and Bob Zuidgeest (Technical Manager). Together with silent partner DHG, Rotterdam Ship Repair thus ensures the continuation of 10 years of successful ship repair activities in the ARA area and around the world.
After having held various positions at various shipping companies, Leo Baks founded Rotterdam Ship Repair ten years ago - at the age of 59. His mission: ship repairs to mainly coastal vessels in the North Sea and the Baltic coasts. And above all, don't get too big, that's the company's strength. Plus, very Rotterdammish, "do what you say and say what you do”.
Now, ten years later, Baks is retiring and transferring the company to Jan Kees Pilaar. Pilaar, as a former director of Curaçao Dock Maatschappij, Verolme, Damen and ThyssenKrupp, among others, is no stranger to the industry. He does not want to change too much about Rotterdam Ship Repair. "The company is in the phase where everything can and may be a little more professional. And of course we - just like the entire industry - will go green. We are already training our people to be able to repair LNG and hydrogen engines and to experiment with a new type of lubricating oil that can save fuel. Thanks to my network, we may also be able to focus on somewhat larger ships, who knows even at a larger location. But essentially we remain the same. Close to the customer and with short lines. And for the time being, we will only continue to serve the North Sea and the Baltic waters. There are the customers who speak our language, who understand us. So we will not focus on Asia.”
