“Our family has been active in inland shipping for over a hundred years,” says Roland Bosman. “It all started when my great-grandfather used a sailing clipper to transport bulk goods in the Netherlands and Germany in the early twentieth century. But the most important development within the company was when my father decided in 1980 to transport containers with our first new-build vessel. Nowadays we transport everything in containers. It is therefore difficult to imagine that it was once special to transport goods in a container! My father's choice was therefore seen as revolutionary.” But it was a good choice because the family business grew into the Bosman Container Shipping Group (BCS Group). “Today, the fleet consists of five 135 x 14.20 container ships, four coupling units, twenty three barges and nine tankers. That number will probably be further expanded in the coming years with a number of new-build vessels,” says the fleet manager.

fleet manager

Roland Bosman is responsible for the ships of the BSGroup. “From arranging for service and keeping the certificates up-to-date to solving technical problems. I must ensure that our ships can continue to operate in a safe and efficient manner. That also means getting on board regularly for a chat. This way, potential problems – technical or personnel related – are identified earlier or can be solved more quickly,” explains Roland Bosman. “Of course, in order to do my job well, I also depend on partners who provide good equipment and service. JRC | Alphatron Marine is one of those partners. I must say, their service has never let us down.”

Cooperation

The cooperation with JRC | Alphatron Marine started in 2008 with one ship. Roland Bosman: “The equipment and service were so good that we had more and more equipment replaced by JRC | Alphatron Marine. Today they are the supplier of most of the navigation and communication equipment onboard the BSG fleet, including the JMR-611 river radar, AlphaPilot, VHF radios and depth sounders. And, of course, sometimes things break. But it is then a matter of calling the service department and a service engineer will be on board in no time. They often schedule it in such a way that they come on board when you are on hold. And whether that is in Rotterdam or in Antwerp, it doesn't matter.”

Roland Bosman always finds it interesting to be invited by JRC | Alphatron Marine to come and see the latest innovations. “From day one, JRC | Alphatron Marine involved its customers in the development of equipment. The company attaches great importance to feedback. Whether it concerns the location of a button to improve the user-friendliness of an existing device, or ideas and data to develop a completely new system. We literally see feedback in the end result.”