Joey Bimmel
Service Engineer High Seas
Joey Bimmel, demonstrating expertise as a dedicated Service Engineer at JRC | Alphatron Marine, adeptly navigates the intricacies of ship troubleshooting.
A decade as a Service Engineer
Despite the fact that his father worked in the Royal Dutch Navy, it was a coincidence that Joey Bimmel started a maritime career too. It was only after he learned of the Navy’s training ‘communication equipment technician’ that he enlisted. Joey Bimmel has been working at JRC | Alphatron Marine in Rotterdam as a Service Engineer for more than ten years now. A job where he never knows what to expect.
“I mainly deal with ships within the high seas sector,” explains Joey Bimmel. “From fishing vessels and tugs to dredgers and container vessels. Where I spend my working day depends on where the ships go into port. That can be here in Rotterdam, but also in Amsterdam, Den Helder, Vlissingen, Antwerp or Zeebrugge.” Most seagoing vessels are only moored for a limited time. Joey Bimmel: “There is often a list of points that must be completed within that duration. That is why there is usually an army of people ready to go on board. Even before the ship is moored!”
Some kind of detective
“We have remote access to many new ships, and we can read the malfunction before the ship has reached the port. This gives us time to arrange things. As a service engineer, you are often some kind of detective. Sometimes a problem is complex and a real challenge that has to be solved before the ship is scheduled to leave.”
Outdoors
Outside of work, Joey Bimmel spends more time on land than on the water. “I like to enjoy the outdoors together with my girlfriend Heidy and our two sons, Thijmen and Boris by going to the forest or making trips to the beach. The boys love to run, play and discover all sorts of things when we are out. That is why they joined scouting, something I did as well. But I get to enjoy those fun scouting activities like treasure hunts and making campfires as a scout leader.”