A native of IJmuiden, Nico Duijn (age 66) was a helmsman on Shell oil tankers and a pilot in the ports of Amsterdam and IJmuiden. The adventure is evident in his personal logbook. Strangely enough, he remembers best an incident on his first voyage. “When I was 20 I went to sea. I'd gone through the maritime academy, but I was still a rookie. I was an apprentice on the tanker Capiluna. It was the third day of my career as a seafarer. We were moored on the quay of the Iranian island of Kharg in the Persian Gulf. There was a massive thunderstorm. Lightning struck a Japanese tanker on the other side of the pier, not far from us. A large flame flared up from the vent pipe of the pump room. The sirens were blaring on the surrounding ships. Those ships were soon being kept wet with seawater. Only we weren't. I thought that was terrifying. Afterwards, it turned out that they did not keep our ship wet because we had no flammable cargo and were still empty. It just wasn't necessary.
I sailed for Shell for over ten years. Everyone's says that I've seen a lot of the world. Well, I've mostly seen a lot of ports. The most beautiful was Rio de Janeiro. When you entered the bay there, a holiday feeling immediately bubbled up in you. I later became a pilot and continued for 24 years. I took early retirement in 2010. When I was younger, I didn't think about my retirement. I assumed that everything would be properly arranged and fortunately it was. Now we live in different times, with all those temporary contracts. That's why my advice to young seafarers is: take a look at your financial horizon. Put money aside for later. Start as early as you can. The sea and shipping have not disappeared from my life. I live with my wife near the coast, in Castricum. And in the summer I occasionally sail tourists across the shallows near Texel with the Texelstroom, a traditional sailing ship. I also build model ships and accompany a shanty choir on my harmonica. Even after you retire, you're still a seaman.”←
‘My advice to young seafarers: take a look at your financial horizon’