Joannes Gogaert

Born on March 18, 1946, a professional journey in the maritime industry was embarked upon shortly after high school in 1964 at The General Steam Navigation Company, where an introduction to shipping and forwarding was provided. Following a year of military service, employment was secured at Lalemant Agency in 1969, marking the beginning of a 40-year tenure. Over the years, responsibilities were assumed in various capacities, including 30 years managing ro/ro services to Sweden, five years overseeing the General Agency department, and six years serving as a consultant at ArcelorMittal’s shipping department. By the time retirement was reached in 2009, a career progression from entry-level to department manager had been achieved, guided by a commitment to continuous learning and dedication to the field. Strong relationships with Swedish principals were cultivated, and significant expertise in ro/ro traffic was developed.

Joannes believes that success in the maritime industry is achieved through a genuine love for the work, a willingness to face challenges, and a commitment to lifelong learning. Leadership is best exemplified by humility, teamwork, and active listening, with continuous adaptation and growth being encouraged. Aspiring maritime professionals are advised to embrace opportunities for learning, remain grounded, and appreciate the satisfaction that comes from achieving goals through dedication.

Even after 15 years of retirement, enthusiasm for maritime matters has been maintained, complemented by hobbies such as ship photography, which continue to provide inspiration and engagement.

Can you describe what a typical day was like during your career? How did you manage the balance between long-term strategic planning and day-to-day operational tasks? What were your main responsibilities throughout your career?

Since I have to start somewhere, I will start with a warning to everyone who intends to have a responsible position within shipping. If you think of a 9 to 5 job, forget it. It’s a 24/7 job. Your name and phone number is in the records of thousands of ship owners. And nowadays with mobile phones, you can be reached anytime and anywhere. They don’t care if you are just making love to your wife or your girlfriend. And if you don’t have a solid relationship, you can also better forget to go into shipping.

I am asked to describe a typical day so also that you can forget. A day is full of unexpected surprises. If you need a solution for a problem, and you are convinced it does not exist, you have to invent one since in shipping nobody takes NO as an answer. Obviously, there are certain daily routines and as a manager of a department you have to do a bit more than your collaborators.

I will describe the routines when I was responsible for the agency department. Not the ro/ro liner service with Sweden that I handled during 30 years. Office hours started at 08.30 so I was in the office at 07.30. Reading telexes, faxes and emails. Also, here we were in a transition period since telex and fax have been ruled out and all is concentrated on mails. All has to be sorted out for distribution, to be sent further to other departments and others to be replied to. In the meantime, I made coffee for my colleagues as well. My chief waterclerck also came around 08.00 and in the meantime, I had checked arrivals and departures and contacted various stevedores on how ships would work, have started and estimated to be finished loading or discharging. This we checked together on which waterclerck should go to which ship and get the info needed to inform the captain and handle the ship’s requirements and clearance. At 09.30 we had our daily meeting with all department managers to brief our big boss about the whats and whereabouts. We called this “the muppet show”. Then you have the usual daily proceedings with surprises that might occur. Long term planning in shipping is a far cry from reality. I don’t think there is an environment where routines are upset all the time than in maritime. When you think you have solved one problem there will be another popping up. And that exactly makes life in maritime so exciting. It’s never dull. But you need besides training and skill a lot of imagination to invent a solution that still does not exist but has to be tackled. No day is the same. The challenge is always there to surpass yourself and that’s exciting. I loved it and I still do even though I have been on pension for 15 years now.

I started at General Steam Navigation C°’s office in Ghent 1964 and I stayed with them for 5 years. I learned and did everything. Invoicing , customs clearance , customs documents , railway clearance , air freight , postal parcels even driving the van to deliver parcels to customers. Also driving the boss in the company’s car since he had no driving licence. I followed a 3 years training in evening school on maritime related matters including economy, customs regulations , maritime law and maritime insurance law so I was well qualified when I applied for the job at Lalemant and I stayed with them for 40 years. One of our teachers on shipping matters saw me for my introductory meeting with the general manager and apparently when I left , he went to the general manager and said “that one you must take , he is very good” so to this very day I consider him as my mentor. He is 87 nowadays. So a little bit of me and my job as shipping agent with 30 years ro/ro liner service , 5 years agency manager and the last 6 years as external consultant at ArcelorMittal’s transport division. I was asked to have a look at the organization since it did not function very well. I should go there every now and then. It took me 3 months to put an order in the division and I was asked to stay. It was the last 6 years till my pension. I could again use my skill to full extent with chartering problems , layday calculations , freight payments , complicated split up disbursements accounts etc. The best 6 years of my career. I will write more in the coming issues. Happy reading.

How did you progress to your position in the shipping industry? Which significant experiences and decisions influenced your career path?

I also mentioned briefly how my career has progressed and I can simply say that I started at the bottom of the ladder and by dedication and gaining knowledge all along the road , I climbed up to my position as department manager both in the ro/ro service as in the general agency department.

If you want a career in maritime, you must love the work involved. If you intend to do a job, go elsewhere because the path to the top is full of challenges and obstacles but also full of satisfaction.

A problem nowadays is that most youngsters always want to start at least as assistant manager preferably with a company car , company mobile , company Visa and tank card. This creates a situation that they have no or little knowledge of what happens in all the fields lower than their position. They will learn it the hard way , but it will take time and hopefully they realize in due time that they have missed a lot of experience.

My dedication to give the best of myself under all circumstances influenced my decision to work in this environment. From the very beginning I had a special interest in the development of the ro/ro traffic and bit by bit I took the responsibility for that item always closer to becoming my full responsibility. From the very beginning I established good contact with the Swedish principles which also developed in a personal friendship with them. I also had their full support in spite of the fact that my own management rather took an attitude of earning as much as possible on the service and doing as little as possible for it. I took the decision to do the utmost in supporting the Swedes which I considered as my principals and I felt their satisfaction and appreciation which encouraged me to do better all the time. All along the road I learned a lot. My knowledge on shipping grew day by day and that combined with the 3 years training I had has made me a professional. If you want to make a good career in shipping I conclude with good advice LOOK, LISTEN and SHUT UP unless you have really something to say. You will learn a lot this way.

How I entered the maritime business is another story. I was in my last year of high school and was interested in getting a job. It came sooner than expected in such a way that I skipped the last trimester of the last year. My father was a truck driver and did international transport for UCO, a conglomerate of textile producers so he needed customs clearance and had a customs agent. So, he asked around and he was told a few companies might be looking for staff. As I described before, I was employed by General Steam’s branch office in Ghent where I could start on January 3rd 1964 and the rest is history.

Required skills and qualities required for good leadership.

In fact, I can be short: you must love the job, never let a challenge go unattended even in difficult circumstances. It is better to admit that you don’t know than to leave the matter unattended. Be open to learning all along your career and never pretend you know everything. Be a manager amongst and not above your collaborators.

Remember there is no I in the word team.

Obviously, you need some basic training to start from like my 3 years courses about the various aspects related to shipping and transport in general. The road will not be easy but the satisfaction will be big when you have reached your target.

I do not think I have to add much more on this topic. Stay with your feet on the ground and learn from everything that will come along your path. Be open to learning day by day. I am 78 and on pension for 15 years and I still learn even on maritime matters.

From your experience, what specific skills and qualities do you think are crucial for succeeding in a leadership role within the shipping industry?

I think I have already stressed the important items for success in a maritime career in the previous columns.

However, you must have a basic knowledge of the environment which in the old days was learned “on the field” from colleges and principals with experience in the area. Thank God , there are trainings and courses nowadays where you get the experience of 30 years in a 2 or 3 years course. I was fortunate to have that 3 years training.

But I will also repeat that in the first-place love for the maritime environment is essential. Shipping is like a mistress, claiming all you can give with little room for mistakes. A small mistake along the operational chain can have large consequences.

A career in maritime is a lifetime learning process and you must be open for every challenge that comes along your path. Grab it. Never let an opportunity pass by. Never let an issue unattended. I repeat once again a responsible occupation in the shipping environment is a 24/7 job. Be prepared for that. You will have to adjust your private life , not the other way around.

I think I have mentioned the most important requirements for a top function on the operational side ashore. Communication is essential on all levels both ashore, internal and external. and with the ships but the latter item I will handle later with a bit of history on the communication evolution in all fields.

My first manager at Lalemant always said “you must talk more” and he was right. In our dialect from Ghent “Ge moet mier klappe”. This to conclude this column..

What educational background and professional experiences do you consider important for someone aiming to advance in this field?

I wrote about General average and Salvage procedures.

I have dug up the latest edition of the forms and stated that the Average Bond and Valuation form have been combined. See: The Lloyd’s open form is the latest edition 2020.

What were the most significant challenges you faced during your career?

Obviously, I had several challenges during my 45 years career. Two immediately come to mind and one was at the very beginning and the second at the end of my career.

As I mentioned before the ro/ro service, now called Roto Line , became my personal baby  apart from my general work in the agency department. Since the traffic had increased , they had chartered a German vessel NECKARTAL. She ran aground in the Hackefjord. The owners J.A.Reinecke of Hamburg declared General Average. At that moment I was hardly one and a half years in service at Lalemant and the manager had never heard about that. I could convince him that I knew how to handle it and he gave me free hands to do so. I handled this to the entire satisfaction of all parties. Maybe I should explain a bit what General Average (GA) is. All parties with cargo onboard have to be detected and sent an Average Bond form together with a valuation form to be filled in, signed (usually  their insurance signs) and return the forms. There were some 25 parties involved.The igned forms are sent to the owner who hands over the documents to an average adjuster for settlement. Note that also the ship and the equipment (trailers/containers) have to contribute. The average adjuster has on one side the costs for salvage and on the other side the value of the different parties. He has to calculate each party’s contribution based on the insured value of the cargo and settle the salvage costs. On the salvage side , the owner has to sign a Lloyd’s open form with the salvage company which simply says “no cure , no pay” meaning if the salvage fails , the company gets no payment. Usually it stipulates that the vessel has to be delivered to a safe place , harbour or berth. To declare GA , three requirements have to be fulfilled, Costs and expenditures  have to be made in common interest meaning to the benefit of all involved. Secondly to protect and save ship and cargo and third for the continuation of the voyage in order to deliver the cargo. Everything was settled after 6 months. Imagine the GA on the Evergreen ship that ran aground in the Suez canal with some 24.000 containers on board. This case will take maybe 10 years or longer. Same for the ship that made the bridge in Baltimore collapse. All this is handled/negotiated/settled between insurance companies. This in short on GA.

My second and most satisfying challenge came at the end of my career when I was asked by ArcelorMittal to put some order in their shipping department. It took me 3 months and they begged me to stay. It were the last 6 years before my pension. Here I could go full ahead in all aspects of shipping from chartering over agency and settle complex disbursements accounts. I was faced once again with charter parties , laytime calculations etc. This was my biggest challenge but also my biggest satisfaction as a conclusion of my career.

How did you ensure efficient and resilient supply chain management in your operations, particularly during times of global disruptions?

Since I have not been faced with a global disruption , I will have to improvise a bit the situation including the digital facilities actually available. Digitalisation has created a lot of possibilities non existing during my active career. A start however was made already at that time with a general port system called ENIGMA (Electronic Network for Information in the Ghent Maritime Area) to which all participants in port related activities had to be connected. Agents , stevedores , pilots , boatmen etc and each party has to fill in his details concerning the ship’s operation. Furthermore , I include the facilities of working from home. From here , I will start my virtual journey. I will go to the office (I have a key and a code for the security system) and check all messages which I presume are  all digital and telex and fax have been ruled out. Check vessel’s positions and stevedores loading/discharging prospects in the ENIGMA system and draw up the planning. Have a video conference with the colleges and divide the different tasks with them based on all the information I have collected. I will stay in the office all day and have another video conference before going home to check all is done what had to be done. Watarclecks also have access to ENIGMA from home since they all have a password and they will order pilots , boatmen etc via the system. I will mainly tackle the E-mails to be attended to with information to owners , charterers and other customers. So far so good with the digital facilities we have nowadays. One important aspect is lost with this digital system, the human connection is almost non-existent anymore. During my active career, I knew 90 % of all people involved in any kind of operation in the port personally which makes working more easy. Just talk to have a solution and almost everything can be settled to the full satisfaction of all parties. One funny thing I want to mention here is that the computer asks you to confirm that you are not a robot. Crazy  isn’t it ??? Now the example. It is all at a sudden discovered that a ship would complete discharging 2 hours sooner than expected and we know the owner is under pressure for the vessel’s next lay days. I used to phone the chief pilot, a personal friend , and ask if he could have a pilot 2 hours ahead of the planned one. He will check and call me back with possibly the message that the pilot is prepared to come provided he can have a taxi on our account.  No problem and the owner will be happy to pay for it. Then I put all services forward for the new departure time. Everybody is happy. Now the same case digitally. I want to bring the pilot 2 hours ahead in ENIGMA’s pilot section and what does it say ??? “pilot changes have to be made 3 hours in advance”. So, nothing you can do since not even the pilot authorities can make a change in the system since it is programmed like that and so it is. So not all in the past was “primitive and old fashioned” Conclusion of this : Personal contacts are extremely important and tend to be lost with the digitalization. Friends are also important in business to get things done. The computer is programmed and you have to live by that. Confirm you are not a robot.