Yoroen's Sailing.

This page of the website is about Yoroen's past and present 'career' on the water. A more detailled look inside a particular voyage can be found as well about my voyage in the summer of 1999 on the containership P&O Nedlloyd Sydney.

Working on water has been learned almost at my mother's knee. My family is originally a sailors family. My dad, grandfather  and great grandfather had been inland shipping sailors. There is still a part of my family sailing on inland shipping vessels. Due to a regulation to reduce capacity of tonnage,  my dad and granddad stopped sailing. My grandfather retired  and my dad searched for a job on shore. When I was about 7 years old I became a Scouting member. The first years of scouting was on shore but when I was 10 years I went to the sea scouts. With an inland shipping vessel as a floating home base for the scouting and some little boats on which I learned sailing, rowing and sculling.

Dutch Faith, anchored at the Humber.

Dutch Sailor, nowadays sailing as 'West Sailor'.

Slowly I started thinking of going to a nautical college. After I stopped with my higher education I started  'sailors' school. It was a nice study, interesting subjects and the people were very friendly. It took me 4 years to get my paper. The last year was one of practice as cadet. In the cadet year you must have a specified amount of days registrated in your seamansbook. You must complete a training book as well. That comprises technical details of the ships, operational skills and some reports about several subjects. On completion you get your 'school' certificate. With this the official certificates for mate, engineer and certifcate of competency can be obtained at a department of the transportation ministry (Dutch Shipping Inspection).

My year as cadet started in the summer of 1996. I started sailing at Broere Shipping. Broere Shipping is a shipping company with chemical/oil tankers. Main trade are high quality chemicals. For instance alcohols, acids, phenol, aromatics and so on. My first ship was the Dutch Faith. She was still smelling new, only 4 months old when I came on board.

Sailing was quite different then school life. But when you try to do your job well and try to adapt to the other people on board, than  there is no problem at all. Fortunately I only got seasick once, I'll spare you the details! With the Dutch Faith I sailed some time on the North sea and made a few trips to the Mediterranean. It's very nice , walking in a shorts in december! Boxing day (26 december) we arrived at Flushing (coming from Sarroch, Sardegna) where I went home for 3 weeks. Before I went home for such a "long" time,  I had been home only for a day or so (during a dutch port stay, that's the advantage of living nearby Rotterdam).

Gebroeders Broere

Pakhoed Scheepvaart

Vopak Shipping

Broere Shipping

After 3 weeks leaf I came on board the Dutch Sailor in Antwerp (Belgium). It was orignally build as 'Broere Aquamarine'. Due to the dutch law at time of newbuilding it was sailing as the smallest ship under the 'big ships regime'. In that time there was a limit of 75 meters length on coasters. After they changed the legislation, the ship was renamed and the crew was limitated to the usual amount as on the other Broere coasters. With this ship I sailed on the North sea, Irish Sea and the Bay of Biscay. The most beautiful voyage I made with this ship was from Stade (near Hamburg in Germany) to Maydown (near Londonderry, Northern Ireland). That voyage was along the Scottish Coast and through the Pentland Firth. The surroundings were beautiful and there was much current in the Pentland. The tide was about 10 knots (= approx. 18,5 km/hr or 12 english miles) so it took us a long time to go through the Pentland, in what was, to my idea, typical Scottish weather. The day before "Queens day" (= 30th april, which is in Holland a national holiday) I came back home again. That was a good schedule, because it is a real treat this day!

Ms Mamry (2006, Rotterdam approach). The former 'Dutch Master'.

Ms Jacobus Broere.

After two weeks at home I left again for the last period of my cadet year with mts. Dutch Glory. The Dutch Glory as well as her sistership 'Dutch Master' have been sold somewhere in the beginning of this millenium. The ship maintained a service between Rozenburg (Rozenburg is a part of the port of Rotterdam) and the Tees River in the UK near Middlesbrough. Each second call at Rozenburg I had a very important job to do. By bicycle I went to Rozenburg for changing a lot the rental video's. Each day you could look an other movie if you wanted to. Nowadays you don't need the videoplayer so much anymore. Not due to the availability of dvd players, but more because the availablity of sattelite television on the Broere ships (gyro stabilized for insiders).
In the summer the chemical market decreased, so life became each trip more relaxed. Due to all 'delays' I could go on leaf exactly on the last day of my cadet year.

In july 1997 I had my first time at home for more then a month since I started sailing at sea. After that holiday I was able to continuee working at Broere Shipping. Although I had a certificate of competency as 2nd officer/engineer I started first as able body sailor (a/b). I liked both sides, engineroom as well as deck, but I had a slight preference to deck. My first ship as a sailor was mts Jacobus Broere. Starting as sailor was in that time usual before you became an officer to gain deck experience. Jacobus Broere was one of the 2 founders from Broere, they started in 1922 as an auto bus company. I was relieved after 6 weeks because of a chemical course I had to take.

The course was for my chemical endorsement. After a relative long stay at home (party time, with a good filled wallet) I sailed on mts. Dutch Navigator. With this ship I made 3 trips to the Mediterranean. Got much bad weather (see the mistral picture) but that is the risk of the job as sailor. In the 2 1/2 month I was on board I only got once 'real' leave to go on shore. I It was a nice night and evening to go out. Half an hour after I was ready with work, I was in a taxi on my way to the city. I did not come back till 15 minutes before my next watch! So I had to almost immediately start work again and after a few hours, you feel really broken!

Mid January 1998 I was relieved again. Unfortunately no Christmas and New Year at home. With Christmas we were in the English Channel. Heading towards the Channel of Bristol from Antwerp. Normally that is about one day at sea, now it took us more than 3 days. With the New Year we were South of Spain, with a nice temperature of about 18 Celcius.

Onboard Dutch Navigator, taken after a mistral in the Mediterane笀

ms Engelina Broere ('98 sold as Angela).

In the month I was at home I took my driving test, during that test I was caught by a flash (for speeding slightly too fast) from a police cam! But I succeeded :)
From mid february I sailed on the mts. Engelina Broere. Crossing the NorthSea was the regular work. All the time we sailed between the Tees, Antwerp and the Rotterdam port region (Moerdijk, Dordrecht, etc.). Had to work hard because of the short trips. After one month on board I got a bad accident and I could not work for a longer period. After 8 months at home I got really bored of being at home all the time. I decided to go back to school on the higher nautical college in Rotterdam. By that time the doctors informed me also that I was able to recommence working.

In the summer of 1999 I sailed via Transport & Offshore Services (TOS) on a P&O Nedlloyd containervessel. You can read more about that on this page. My last year on college TOS offered me several oppurtunities for short trips. In the spring of 2000, TOS offered me a trip as 2nd engineer on the seagoing tug Multratug 7 for a trip to Portugal. Unfortunnately this trip was delayed several times, to avoid problems by missing to much on school, I cancelled it.

Ms P&O Nedlloyd Sydney, maidenvoyage.

Ms Multratug 7.

End of july 2000 I came back at my old employer. Due a merger of some companies the name was just changed to Vopak Chemical Tanker Shipping. Somewhere above you can see the names and logo's which have been used more or less the last 10 years for the same company. Hopefully it will stay the same for a longer period now since the name changed back to Broere Shipping in 2005.

I went to the Dutch Glory as 2nd mate. She still did the same run Tees - Rozenburg. After 3 weeks I had to go in a rush with the Rotterdam pilot tender from board. On the Dutch Sailor they desperattely needed a 2nd officer ;) In the end of august I went of board to do a final examination and collecting the certifcates after the good result of that. Immediattely on receiving the certificates I went to the Dutch Engineer for a month. Thereafter I had a month leaf and I returned to the Dutch Engineer which went to the shipyard for her 15 year survey. After the drydock I was quite good finding my way in the double bottoms.

In 2001 I sailed on mt Dutch Pilot. A lot of Northsea work just like the Engineer and the Dutch Mariner where I went spring 2001. In the summer I was lucky that I sailed on the Dutch Mate which is often on the Mediterennean run. I have been 2 times ashore in 6 weeks (jetties don't count!), once by bicycle in Gijon (North Spain) and I've walked through Napoli (Italy). In 2001 I had the luck to have X-mas leaf. It was a pity I came back delayed at the 19th of december. My father in law already bought a X-mas tree for in my house. Off course I was very suprised when I wanted to take a shower and found that tree in my shower cabin :-)

2001 was the year of a major improvement from our collective bargain. Our schedule changed from a 2-1 system to a 1-1 system, which means that instead of 2 months sailing and one month at home it became one and a half month sailing as well as at home.

Ms Dutch Engineer, in drydock Vlaardingen (2000).

Dutch Pilot passing Flushing.

The time after this I mainly worked on the so-called 'northsea' ships. Off course this nickname is not for nothing. Although it doesn't mean that you only see the NorthSea. For instance on a term on the Dutch Faith -a quite regular northsea crosser- I've been only once in England. The other ports in my period onboard were all lying between southwest Spain (Huelva) and West Sweden (Uddevalla). Quite nice, unexpected I came in a lot of ports I had never been before. The new Faith is a lot different compared to the old one. Somewhere below you can find a picture of the Alce (former Dutch Spirit) the sistership of the old Dutch Faith. The picture has been taken on leaving Leghorn (Italy) onboard the Dutch Mate.

While I am writing this paragraph in 2006, the Faith is also becoming more aged. Ten years already, but she is well maintained so her age is almost invisible. Although the age, she is still quite modern. For the deck officers she has a nice deck to work on, and her bridge is quite far automated. About the rest of the ships automatization she is not as far as compared with the Nedlloyd ship I sailed on. At Nedlloyd (since 2006 part of Maersk Line) the ships are sailed with integrated officers. For instance in the dark hours on sea the engineroom alarm is switched on the bridge. The ships systems were so far automated that you could empty the bilges from the cargoholds remote controlled (by computer) from the bridge. At Broere the 'normal' officers (mates and engineers) are used for running the ships, so that means that an engineer has the engineroom alarm by night.

Ecdis Dutch Emerald, Egean Sea (2003).

Alce at Leghorn, former Dutch Spirit (sistership Faith).

For the people who don't know the new Dutch Faith I will tell some about the nautical side of the ship. The bridge has two indepent ECDIS-es (Electronic Chart Display Information System), or electronic charts. When the ships (new Faith is also sistership of the new Spirit) were new they got permission from the Dutch Shipping Inspection to sail without paper charts. It means that there are only a few charts onboard. For instance a detail chart of Strait Dover / Rotterdam and a few small scale charts. Chart corrections become an easy job with each week a cd-rom with corrections. That makes the 2nd officer happy :-)

Each moment you see the actual (gps) position of the ship projected in the chart. The arpa (automated radar plotting aid) radars are connected as well to the ECDIS. When a ship is plotted in the radar, this ship can be projected as well in the chart. Voyage planning becomes also more. It isn't neccesary anymore to put the same courseline in 16 charts, but in principal you are finished at once.

The bridge has a lot of computer screens, about 11.

And now I still forget all the various LCD and LED displays (LCD: Liquid Crystal Display, LED: Light Emitting Diode), their number will be more than 11 for sure.

Dutch Emerald, at Teesport 12-1-2006.

Dutch Emerald in the Finish archipelago bound for Kotka (2003).

The winter of 2003 was intresting. I sailed on the than newest ship of the company ms 'Dutch Emerald'. The equipment can be compared with the Dutch Faith, although the Emerald has more modern stuff onboard off course. After some regular work we made a trip to the Baltic. My first time navigation into the ice. The ship has an ice class (hull is strengthened, and ship is laid out for harse conditions as described by authorities). The weather was quite good, during nighttime some temperatures below zero, but during daytime we had once 10 degrees above zero! I am glad we didn't have -30 Celcius so I didn't needed my long underwear. The view when sailing through the ice is marvellous. For working it is absolutely not nice (especialy whith temperatures below zero), and when sailing through heavy ice it is not really comfortable anymore. Bad for sleeping.

Bastiaan Broere 'shining' at the shipyard 4-12-2003.

Onboard Dutch Progress off Galicia (NW Spain) 27-01-2004.

End 2003 I came for my first time onboard the Bastiaan Broere. This also comprised the big 15 year survey. Shortly hereafter I got a 'fixed' ship. That was the Dutch Mate. It was quite well. When looked at lenght the ship is one of the 2 longest from the company, although they can take slight less cargo than the round the millenium delivered Dutch Aquamarine and Dutch Emerald. The Mate is lengthened as well as the Dutch Navigator in 1998. Actually expect the new section they are sisterships of the Bastiaan and the Jacobus.

Somewhere the last months of 2004 I got the oppurtunity to sail as (temporary) chief officer onboard 'an old acquaintance' the Dutch Engineer. In 2005 I got my fixed promotion to chief officer. 2004 was also the year that the company name changed from Vopak to Broere Shipping. When Vopak sold us, they sold the name as well to the new owners; the german based Rantzau Group.

Alcedo alongside A&P Frontage jetty at Teesport 04-02-2006.

Alcedo, part of bridge and cargo office.

It is common use at Broere Shipping when you are just promoted that you'll go to one of the older ships. However I was allowed to go the low air draught coaster Alcedo which is one of the newest of the company. Off course this had a reason. The Alcedo is originally built for Van Ommeren (Transtank). They had an other philosophy about seashipping than at Broere. That means that the ship is really different than I was used to at the other Broere ships. You can not say anything about the age of the ship, but compared to the other Broere ships it is a step back in the time. The advantage of it is that the ship is a very valuable experience, and a challenge as well. The last is also caused by the fact that the ship is flying the Dutch Flag since the summer of 2005, and it is fully managed by the netherlands based Broere company since then.

The ship was originnaly built in 1999 with homeport Rotterdam. But that was changed quite fast. Until the summer of 2005 the Alcedo (and her sistership Ardea) had the Luxembourg flag, and were managed by a Belgian/Luxembourg based company. After the change of flag all the officers who were working already on these 2 ships got a job offered on the same ships but now for Broere. This means that there are much more nationalities/cultures onboard as well. Arabian, Flemisch, Wallonians, Filipinno's and Dutch crew. This is also different than I was used to. But as I said already I enjoy it and I feel benefited by the valuable experience of it.

Valentine day 2007 was my last day onboard a Broere tanker. I left the ship in Stade (Germany) for the last time.

Stolt Fulmar leaving Latchford locks, October '05.

Stolt Glory, August '08, Terneuzen.

About two weeks later I started with my new shore based job at Stolt Tankers headoffice in Rotterdam as a shipoperator for the regional European fleet. With my experience as chief officer onboard chemical tankers that worked out pretty well. In 2008 I got the opportunity to spend a couple of months as deepsea operator in the Global Operations department. A very interesting time, and off course with an really interesting learning curve. Actually I've returned to the regional fleet operations. As I am quite flexible I recently assisted the global operations department while they were understaffed for a short period. Although it was for a short period, I like these changes. It keeps you going!

Since mid 2009 I am working for North Sea Tankers BV. A very young, ambitious and fast growing company. Such an environment is exciting and very challenging. A fantastic chance, to set up the operations for a new company. Have a look at our website to get an impression: North Sea Tankers BV.

E-mail me.