Our General Manager Shipping Jaap Zevenbergen had the pleasure of doing an interview in Amports magazine under the column ‘Ways to the sea.’ This interview had a special theme with the focus on the review of 2022. This happened partly because Broekman was co-sponsor of the Grand Dessert event of the Havengilde dinner.
The General Manager of Broekman Shipping was already performing in logistics services in his twenties. Jaap Zevenbergen can chat delightfully about the history of Broekman Logistics which once was a family business. His way of speaking shows that he is a man with real Rotterdam roots! But this has not kept him from speaking full of praise about the port of Amsterdam. This region offered him more chances and opportunities within the logistics industry.
Dealers
First, he takes us back to 1960s, which is, by the way, the year Broekman was established by Aad Broekman. “The focus of our company then was in transporting cars for dealers. The cars arrived through the Swedish shipping company ‘Wallenius’ back then still carried by conventional ships. This partnership worked out so well that we decided to develop as shipping agent which was named Broekman Motorships. So actually Broekman started as a shipping agent,” Van Zevenbergen concluded.
Evergreen and Grimaldi
“In the following years, Broekman developed into a full-fledged shipping agent and attracted a handful of forwarders highlighting the Taiwanese company Evergreen. This has resulted the growth of Broekman. Anno 2022 we are active in all the seaports which includes the French shipping company Marfret and Italian company Grimaldi. This has led to us obtaining a foothold in the port of Amsterdam.”
Ter Haak
“In the late 1980s, Grimaldi operated only in Rotterdam and maintained a joint venture with the Belgian shipping company Cobelfret. Because of the focus on containers, they were looking at an alternative: Amsterdam. Because of the good relationship with the Ter Haak Group, they called Richard with the question if he was ready for something big.”
010-020
Van Zevenbergen has nothing to do with the 010-020 rivalry. He frequently gets the question ‘What has a Rotterdammer to do in Amsterdam?' “But as national port, you have to think in partnerships. and not in opposites to serve Grimaldi in the best possible way, and yes, Amsterdam is sharp on our radar.”
Lots of containers
“When it comes to current activities, we mostly consists RO/RO; trailers, trucks, vans and cars. But also high & heavy equipment and containers to South America and West Africa. A good example is the cacao season which runs from October to April where many containers are being shipped from West Africa. Broekman Logistics Amsterdam with its office located at Schiphol Airport includes warehousing facilities. They handle spare parts for the shipping industry for customers, which in are clients of Broekman Shipping.” Because of these short lines within their company, Broekman Logistics is able to optimize the best service in a fast way.
If you are interested in the original Dutch interview, please read here.
Contact our professional for more information!
