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Frédéric
UYTTERSPROT
Belgian citizen
Trading & Shipping, Geneva, Switzerland.
Shipping Operator.
Merchant Marine Officer. Qualified in Nautical
Science at Antwerp Maritime Academy in Belgium,
then earned a Certificate of Competency
as Master of Sea-Going Ships.
Joined the Group after a few years at sea,
spent just under a year in Paris, and has
been based in Geneva since 2001.
I joined the Merchant Marine as an Officer
Cadet when I left school, and sailed just
about every sea on the planet. I was already
in touch with the oil business then; we
used to carry petroleum products and by-products
quite often. I also qualified for a number
of certificates, working my way up the ladder
and onto bigger and bigger ships, all the
way up to VLCCs (Very Large Crude Carriers).
Back on land …
I worked at sea until I was 29 or 30, when
I started feeling it was time to settle
down. That was when Total got in touch with
me – just at the right time.
I went through the interviews and they hired
me for a job in Paris with Shipping Operations.
Most of the staff had already moved to Geneva,
and I knew I’d end up here in Switzerland
too, which I did a few months later.
Stay curious.
My job covers everything that Shipping operations
involve. The Group charters ships on a regular
basis, so I have to deal with ship owners,
agents, brokers and so on, and liaise with
Trading at the same time. The goal is to
strengthen the Group’s standards,
right at the crossroads of all those operations.
That takes a blend of technical and commercial
skills – which is what makes it interesting.
My integration period and the training courses
I went on gave me an overview of the Group’s
galaxy of business lines. If I had to give
somebody some advice, I’d tell them
to stay curious and to do their job without
losing sight of that diversity of operations
and business lines.
Career-wise, I’d like to stay in touch
with the world I started out in and still
feel very much at home with, ships and ports.
I know former vessel staff who now work
as interfaces between refineries and ports.
That’s one of the several things I’d
like to do eventually. And, why not, do
it back in Belgium, where I come from. |
