Ruud Meuldijk (63), Branch Manager Marine Department at Broekman Shipping
“As a boy, I was a free-spirited type. I didn’t want to sit in an office all day. That’s why I started as a shipping clerk in January 1982. Later in my career, I ran an agency for a shipping company in Hamburg, but that meant I had difficulty taking time off and also had to handle things like HR and accounting myself. Eventually, you end up doing more of that than your beloved profession. Through the Marine Club Rotterdam, I came into contact with Broekman six years ago. We merged our captain’s rooms and I joined here. Broekman Shipping coordinates ships coming in and works closely with HCC, pilots, boatmen, and tugboats.
As chairman of the Rotterdamsche Waterklerken Vereniging, I have many contacts, and from Broekman, I got the opportunity to expand the department. The people I choose to work with me must be similar professionals, otherwise, it won’t work. We are here with seven shipping clerks who are ready 24/7 to go to the ships, even during holidays and birthdays. In principle, one man is on duty in the evening, but if there’s an emergency, we all have duty. We cancel our private appointments and keep going until the job is done. That musketeers’ motto is very strong within this department: one for all, all for one. It’s a great group of people who stand by each other, a brotherly team. Recently, someone offered to help a colleague during a busy weekend. That colleague asked, ‘But aren’t you going to Feyenoord?’ ‘That’s not happening then. I’ll come and help you.’ If the problem is serious enough and they want to see me on board, I’ll get in the car myself. The closer you get to Maasvlakte, the more lights you see – until it’s one big Christmas tree of port activities. Everyone around us is working day and night, and you feel that energy. Because communication is much easier now thanks to email and phone, you don’t always have to physically board a ship. But it’s still the best and the most fun. Sitting with the captain for a while. Maybe you’ll meet, like I did, a great guy who lives on a Greek island – who gives you his private address and becomes a friend for life. I always kept those contacts well. Many of those captains later became directors of shipping companies, and they still know how to find me.
My main hobby was horseback riding, but that is almost impossible to combine with this job. That’s why I became a marathon runner. With the Rotterdam Running Ambassadors, I have run 31 marathons worldwide. We usually chose port cities so that we could visit business relations at the same time. Then I would say, ‘I’ll come on Monday – if I can still walk because I’m running the marathon on Sunday.’ That opened a lot of doors. I often took the medal with me to the meeting. When I threw that thing on the table, they were often immediately on board. Sometimes I would even deliberately walk a bit stiffly. That earned even more respect.”
Here you can read the full article (Dutch) from Onze Haven, in which five colleagues are interviewed. The photos we have used are from this article and were taken by photographer Vincent van Dordrecht.
