Damen Maaskant Shipyards Stellendam Appoints Eric Moerkerk as MD

Damen Maaskant Shipyards Stellendam (DMSS) has announced the departure of Managing Director Frits van Dongen and the appointment of Eric Moerkerk in his place.

During a party that was held at Damen Maaskant Shipyards Stellendam (DMSS) to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the yard, Frits van Dongen, who has worked at Damen for the past 40 years, with 25 of those as managing director of DMSS, handed over his responsibilities on the first of October to Eric Moerkerk.

Eric was previously at Keppel Verolme, which became part of Damen in September 2016. At that point he moved to DMSS as project manager and ten months later was promoted to deputy director.

“Frits has been an enthusiastic ambassador for the fishing industry,” says Jan-Wim Dekker, Chief Products Officer for the Damen Group. “He will continue to carry out support tasks for both Maaskant Shipyards and for our headquarters in Gorinchem while also partial making use (1 or 2 days in the week) of his early retirement entitlement. I would like to thank Frits for his commitment to Damen and wish Eric much success in his new role.”

“I`m happy to be back at home and, as a son of a fisherman and a member of a family that owned a Maaskant beam trawler, it really feels like coming home,” adds Eric Moerkerk. “I look forward to continuing our journey and to setting course for 100 years of Damen Maaskant. Despite the challenging conditions within our home market I am confident that we will continue to deliver sustainable and profitable products for our customers.”