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Yachtsman Michel Kleinjans guest at the HZS Alumni meeting
Guest at the meeting of the HZS Alumni on 25 March 2010 was Michel Kleinjans.
Mr Kleinjans studied at the Antwerp Maritime Academy but instead of becoming a merchant marine officer, he became a world renowned yachtsman.
His biggest achievement was undoubtedly winning the Portimão Global Ocean Race, the famous solo sailing-race around the world.
Mr Kleinjans left the Portuguese port aboard his yacht, the Roaring Forty, on 12 October 2008 for a trip of 33,000 sea miles (about 61,000 km). He sailed via Cape Town, Wellington, Cape Horn, Ilhabela (Brazil) to Charleston (USA), and from there back to Portimão (arriving on 25 June 2009).
During the Alumni meeting, Mr Kleinjans (left) was interviewed by journalist Jorgen Muylaert.
Port of Ghent CEO guest of the Antwerp Maritime Academy Alumni Association
Daan Schalck, the newly appointed Managing Director of the Port of Ghent, was guest speaker at the Autumn Meeting of the HZS Alumni.
In 2008, the Port of Ghent handled a seaborne cargo traffic of 27 million tonnes, which was a 7.7% increase compared to the previous year. Ghent is also an important inland navigation port (20 million tonnes in 2008).
The main challenge for the port is its accessibility for larger ships. A new sea lock is planned at Terneuzen (entrance of the canal to Ghent), enabling “new Panamax” sized ships to call at the port.
For inland navigation a link will be developed with the Seine-Nord Europe Canal, providing better access to the industry zones in Northern France and Paris.
Mr Daan Schalck, addressing the HZS Alumni
Port of Zeebrugge development projects explained at spring Alumni meeting
Ir. Joachim Coens, Chairman and Managing Director of the Port Authority Bruges-Zeebrugge, was guest speaker at the meeting of the HZS Alumni, held at the Antwerp Maritime Academy on 20 April 2009.
Mr Coens gave an overview of the development projects in the Belgian coastal port, handling 42 million tonnes of cargo annually.
Zeebrugge will further specialise in specific regular traffics: container and roro, paper and pulp, agricultural products, new cars and distribution.
The port infrastructure must be adjusted to the anticipated growth of these traffics. This includes, among other projects, the construction of a third large container terminal in the outer port.
Zeebrugge is one of the few European ports with sufficient depth to handle large container ships (14,000 TEU) without any problem.
Mr Joachim Coens (right), talking to Paul Wauters, Chairman of the HZS Alumni Association (left) and Capt. Patrick Blondé, General Manager of the Antwerp Maritime Academy.
Port of Antwerp expansion plans central topic at autumn Alumni meeting
Mr Marc Van Peel, Alderman of the Port of Antwerp and Chairman of the Port Authority, was guest speaker at the meeting of the HZS Alumni, held at the Antwerp Maritime Academy on 20 November 2008.
Mr Van Peel gave an overview of the planned port expansion, which will be necessary to keep the port of Antwerp positioned among the 5 largest seaports in the world.
In 2007, the port handled 183 million tonnes of cargo, of which 96 million tonnes containerised goods (8 million TEU).
The planning of port expansion will be based on information and forecasts derived from an extensive market survey.
As mobility problems around Antwerp are of great concern to the local population, systems will be developed to facilitate road transport (new link between the Left Bank and Right Bank port areas, Intelligent Road Pricing, etc.).
Guest speaker Mr Marc Van Peel
Volgende bijeenkomst Alumni HZS
De volgende bijeenkomst van de Alumni HZS vindt plaats op donderdag 20 november 2008 om 19.00 u. in de Hogere Zeevaartschool.
Gastpreker is Marc Van Peel, Schepen van de Haven van Antwerpen.
De h. Van Peel zal spreken over de toekomst van de haven van Antwerpen.
Aanmelden voor deze bijeenkomst kan via de rubriek Activiteiten.
Dredging industry central topic at Alumni meeting
Mr Alain Bernard, CEO of DEME, was the guest speaker at the Alumni meeting held on 20 March 2008 at the Antwerp Maritime Academy.
Alumni President Paul Wauters announced a sponsorship scheme to structurally finance the Alumni HZS Association, allowing for further development of its activities.
Mr Bernard not only presented the activities of his company but he also addressed the audience as representative of the Flemish Dredging Industry.
In the Benelux 2 Belgian (DEME and Jan De Nul) and 3 Dutch dredging companies (De Boer, Van Dord and Bos&Kalis) are active. They successfully compete on a world scale with other European contractors, as well as companies from the USA, Japan, Korea and Russia.
The Benelux share (evenly divided between Belgian and Dutch companies) is 65% of the free accessible world market.
More pictures of the meeting: see Fotoboek.
Guest speaker Mr Alain Bernard.
Survey among former HZS students shows positive results
In June 2007, an intensive survey was carried out among the former students of the Antwerp Maritime Academy.
The results of this survey were very positive: the courses at the Academy were highly valued.
One of the questions was: “If you had the opportunity to re-do your studies, would you again choose the same nautical education?” 91% of the alumni answered this question positively!
There were some critical remarks as well (on training at sea, for instance) but the overall judgment of the maritime training and subsequent careers was positive.
Are you interested in the detailed findings of this survey? A PDF file can be downloaded here (only available in Dutch).
Alain Bernard guest speaker at next Alumni meeting
Mr Alain Bernard, CEO of DEME, will be the guest speaker at the next meeting of the HZS Alumni, scheduled at Thursday, 20 March 2008.
The topic of his paper is: "Creating land for the future".
More information will be available soon in the "Activities" section of this website.
Argonaut has found a new home!
As some of you already knew, the "Bric à Brac" went bankrupt. Argonaut waited till the last moment, but as nobody took over the place, it was forced to search for a new bar.
And found one: the "Markies de Sade", also situated at the Stadswaag and therefore easy to find.
Johan (de Stokkem), Cathy and Johannes are the new bar tenders and they do everything to make the Argonaut members feel at home. The Argonaut parties held so far at the "Markies deade" were a big success.
The "Logbook", the Argonaut shield on the wall and a picture of "den Tim" behind the bar are evidence of the Argonaut presence.
Argonaut welcomes all HZS alumni at the new bar!
For more information on Argonaut activities please check its website www.argonaut.be.
Rocking and dancing into the night: Argonaut Family Day!
The Argonaut Family Day was an event to remember. Cool music, great quality paella and BBQ, nice weather, ... everything fell into place.
For those who couldn't make it: see full report and pictures at the Argonaut website (www.argonaut.be).
Panama Canal central topic at Alumni meeting
About 100 members of the HZS Alumni association participated in the meeting held on 28 March 2007.
Guest speaker was ir. José De Regge, who gave a lecture on the new design for the locks in the Panama Canal. His company (Technum Oostende) was awarded the contract for the conceptual design of the new locks. It consists of a triple lift lock system, on both sides of the canal, equipped with rolling gates and water saving basins.
During the meeting, the Alumni website which went on-line one day earlier, was presented. Many alumni have already registered on the new site. Apart from some minor bugs, registering members, putting photos on-line, using the Forum, etc.,goes very smoothly.
As usual, participants were invited for drinks after the meeting.
Alumni President Paul Wauters (left) with Guest speaker ir. José De Regge. The picture to the right shows the venue of the meeting, the Ortelius aula of the Antwerp Maritime Academy.
Former HZS students meet aboard Flandria 24
The recent meeting of the HZS Alumni was, once again, a well-attended successful event.
Aboard Flandria 24, some 120 former students of the Antwerp Maritime Academy listened to Mr Nicolas Saverys, chairman of the Royal Belgian Shipowners' Association. In his capacity as CEO of Exmar, he stressed the history and technological expertise of the company, which is one of the leading players in the world for the transport of liquefied gases.
During the meeting a first glimpse was provided of the HZS Alumni website, which will go on-line early 2007.
Among other functions it will facilitate registration to events and keeping membership details up-to-date.
Picture at the right: Guest speaker Mr Nicolas Saverys. Picture to the left: former students enjoying the opportunity to meet again.