Taking each day as it comes

ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF DEME GROUP.

Hugo Bouvy has been working in the ofshore industry since graduating from Delft Technical University in 1994. He joined the DEME Group in 1995, after which he took several steps throughout the organisation. Today, he is Managing Director of DEME Ofshore, and Member of the Executive Committee of the DEME Group.

Mr Bouvy, what made you decide to join the ofshore industry? Mr Bouvy: “This was in fact a bit of a coincidence. After graduation with a master’s degree in Hydraulics and Fluid Power Technology, I entered a weak labour market, and when I could join Tideway, which is now part of DEME Ofshore, I just felt lucky to have job. At Tideway I started as Superintendent on the fallpipe vessel Rollingstone, and the rest is history.”

Being on a vessel with your master’s degree is perhaps not the most obvious move? Mr Bouvy: “Indeed. However, I have never regretted this, as I have really learned a lot from working on the Rollingstone. Today, one of my recommendations for young people entering our industry would be to somehow try to work at sea for a while, as they will then be able to turn their theoretical knowledge into experience. At sea I learned about the hierarchy on vessels. Everything is organised according to strict rules and procedures so as to be able to work safely. At the Rollingstone I learned how to optimise, implement, and organise, and I have used all of these learnings throughout my entire career.”

Can you give us an example of this? Mr Bouvy: “In the ofshore industry we often have to deal with complex and risky projects, and there are always issues that must be taken care of quickly. It is therefore important to be able to manage using short lines, also at management level, with everyone aware of his or her responsibilities. This very much equals life at sea. In fact, working at an ofshore company like DEME is the enlargement of working on a vessel. Just like on a vessel, there are always various complexities to be taken care of in the many projects we are working on.”

You have been working at DEME for quite some time now, so you must know a lot about the company. What is one of the company’s strongest points? Mr Bouvy: “Although we operate internationally with branches all over the world and employees with various nationalities, we still have the characteristics of

a family-owned company. Our majority shareholder, Belgian investment Group Ackermans & van Haaren, is a family-owned business that understands and endorses our values. Apart from this, we have a highly motivated and dedicated staf. And what makes DEME so special is that this dedication works from both sides. While our people are trying their utmost, DEME takes really good care of them. Recently, for example, we have taken great eforts in moving a group of 150 relatives from our Ukrainian crew members from their country at war to Bulgaria. We could hereby give our Ukrainian crew members some relief regarding their families’ situation. The fact that we did this made a lot of our staf proud, and this obviously helps in keeping everyone on board of our organisation.” >>

Did you expect to be in the position where you are now 25 years ago? Mr Bouvy: “No, not really. I was lucky to be able to grow along with the company and I am aware of the fact that nowadays this might be more difcult for young people entering the market. For me, it is good to know that I have a great team of motivated people around me. I am really proud of them, as there are a lot of things I cannot do myself and they are the ones that actually get the job done. When looking at the young talents at DEME, I have noticed that, compared to when I was young, we now see that young men and women want to know the exact goals they are working for, as well as the milestones set to realise these goals.”

Are you someone that looks ahead in his career? Mr Bouvy: “No, to be honest I have never thought about my career and what steps to take for this. On top of this, years ago it was much easier to look ahead and try to predict what would happen in business fve years later. This is almost impossible nowadays, which is not really an issue for me as I prefer to take each day as it comes.”

Throughout your career at DEME, you must have seen ample changes in the industry and within the company. What is the most remarkable thing you can tell us about those years? Mr Bouvy: “Since I joined the DEME Group, I have seen a lot happening in the industry and our company successfully manages to keep up with these changes. “At the Rollingstone I learned how to optimise, implement, and organise, and I have used all of these learnings throughout my entire career.”

What I am proud of is that we have changed from a company that was solely involved in the dredging industry into a much broader oriented company. For example, we have moved towards the entire design, construction, and installation of complete ofshore wind farms. In this market we not only act as EPCI contractor, but we are also shareholder through DEME Concessions for various ofshore wind projects. Within 25 years, our scope of work has changed from relatively simple dredging jobs to complex multidisciplinary projects. This has resulted in a growth in turnover from roughly EUR 150 million to EUR 2,7 billion. From a company that was often seen as a dredging company trying to behave like an ofshore contractor, we are now a full-service company that everyone takes into account. Of course, it has personally been very exciting to witness this, and with the ongoing energy transition and our role in this, I know that more exciting and challenging years will follow. I am really looking forward to the future.”