Working visit alderman Arjan van Gils

The municipality of Rotterdam asked the RMSC to organize a working-visit for alderman Arjan van Gils (Ports). The purpose of the visit was to show the importance of the broader maritime industry to the city of Rotterdam. To provide a balanced overview the RMSC prosed to organize the visit together with the Dutch Shipowners Association, (KVNR).

The visit took the alderman to premises of Jumbo Shipping, in Schiedam. The group was welcomed by Ed Linders (director HR) and Gjalt Elenbaas (legal counsel). KNVR was represented by Marjolein van Noort and account manager of the city of Rotterdam Irma Belgraver and Tamara Wanker were present.

Holland America Line fleet manager Tiffany Ketel was also in Schiedam to join Jumbo Shipping in the discussion on the sutainability goals and the impact on investments shipowners are currently facing. Connie Roozen, chairwoman of the RMSC acted as discussion leader.

Afterwards the group went by water taxi to RMSC member 24Vision in the Waalhaven area. During this visit, managing director Martijn Mobach and fleet operations manager Jan Jut, focused on the maritime business services cluster and their impact on Rotterdam. Lots of elements are well organized, but 24Vision also gave the alderman some points to consider regarding possible improvements. The existence of enough (high quality) international schools, housing for professionals and attracting young international maritime people are important for the Rotterdam business climate for example.

Both visits gave the alderman insights to the maritime sector in general and the importance of the sector to Rotterdam. Not only for the port and their cargo volume, but also for the business climate in the Maritime Capital of Europe.

RMSC would like to thank both Jumbo, HAL and 24Vision for their support and KVNR for the co-organization.