Meet Vincent, our Coordinator WTB

Meet Vincent, our Coördinator WTB  at VEKA group. Vincent is 29 and grew up in the north of The Netherlands in a small town called Witmarsum in the province Friesland.  With a family like his dad, uncle, grandfather and more family members working in the maritime sector (shipbuilding), his passion and interest grew by the year and therefore, the interest never faded ever since. After his study in diesel technology among many others, Vincent decided to kick off his career in shipbuilding.

Starting as Iron Worker at Volharding shipyards for some years up to an Outfitting Forman At Central Industry Group Sea-going tankers, dry cargo /MPP vessels and passengers vessels, Vincent managed to keep building up his career, learning the necessary skillset to adapt in different situations in this sector. Even working many times abroad in Poland, Germany, France, UK and many other European places for different projects, Vincent became the man who he is today with over 12 years of experience in shipbuilding.

Working at VEKA GROUP

Vincent is working now for around 3 years for VEKA GROUP, started as foreman piping and grew in the current position as Coordinator WTB (Mechanical engineering/Project coordinator).

So how does your work look like?

“Each time a new ship has to be built for a client, a technical specification is documented, including the wishes of the client. Based on this document, I setup the drawings for each system and make sure every part is clearly in the design.  This design is communicated with the client and to Class their approval, we need to start ordering the necessary parts to start the process of building. This whole process is something where I am involved in. Managing from top to down together with the project coordinator. So basically my position can be seen as a foreman/project engineer and project assistant. I am doing this type of job for almost 5 years now”.

Could you mention some important tasks for shipbuilding you do?

“In my position, I am also the communication point with independent quality-agencies that audit the material we have built into the ships/Hull’s. Construction parts are being audited by X-ray devices for example for any inconsistency in the weldings. Together with our document control department I make sure all relevant certificates/documents are available in time and delivered with the ship. We take this very seriously here at VEKA. Also, all these checks and probability for inconsistencies are processed in the project plan”.

 What is for you the biggest obstacle/challenge?

“Every ship is a customized project based on the wishes of the client. The challenge lies in the design of the ship to make sure we meet the needs, but especially, to deliver it on time meeting every quality demand”. Projects could delay because of friction in the supply chain, depending on multiple links. Also, the experience is very important in this business. Delays often are tied too high penalty costs in contracts and therefore experience is needed to handle this kind of situation.”

Where does your motivation lie in doing this kind of job?

“Seeing ships from drawing to sailing away after each end of the project is an amazing thing to see. I care about delivering a ship with high-quality standards and without engineering faults. Furthermore, I like to see delivered ships with high-end technology and engineering solutions for a better environment”.

How does your horizon look like?

“I would like to see more diesel-electric ships, fuel-saving technologies and the development of full electric ships. We are already working on these items here at VEKA but I would like to see it as becoming the standard in the maritime sector. My horizon lies at being a part of innovative shipbuilding with greener solutions for the environment”.