Gulf Stream Marine commands attention for its innovations and flexibility. Now more than ever, both help the company maintain its position as a leader in the specialized field of wind turbine transportation. Company CEO, Jan Rietdijk, explains …
PES: PES first caught up with Gulf Stream Marine last year. What is new with the company?
Jan Rietdijk: The principles of our business are the same – offer quality customer service, flexibility and a commitment to innovation. What has changed over time is the amount of business we do in the handling of wind turbine components. Although the total amount of wind business is down in the Gulf Coast region as a result of the economic recession, it is still a very large part of our business at three of the seven terminals that we operate in this geographic area.
PES: What do you mean by a “commitment to innovation?”
JR: We never stop asking how we can improve our business operations. Our work in the wind industry provides a perfect example. We engineered custom equipment and performance operations to make us uniquely qualified to handle this type of cargo. We began with a vision centred on a fundamental question: “How can we handle this type of cargo more effectively and efficiently than anyone in the industry?” The answer was in customizing our trucks and equipment, providing specialized training to our staff, and working with customers on their storage needs. A tower section can be more than 60ft long and weight more than 60 tons. We now know exactly how to handle this cargo.
PES: Houston is your headquarters. Tell us about the other cities in which you do business…
JR: We do business in seven coastal locations. We manage cargo from all over the world – from industrialized Northern Mexico to South America, the Far East and Europe. We do work in the wind business at most of our operations, but to varying degrees. At Corpus Christi and Freeport, the wind business accounts for almost 90 per cent of our volume. In Houston, our business is a mixture of wind, general and project cargo, containers and steel. We handle mainly steel in Brownsville, but the Port of Brownsville and Gulf Stream Marine are well poised to handle wind components as the need arisesGulf Stream Marine commands attention for its innovations and flexibility. Now more than ever, both help the company maintain its position as a leader in the specialized field of wind turbine transportation. Company CEO, Jan Rietdijk, explains …
PES: PES first caught up with Gulf Stream Marine last year. What is new with the company?
Jan Rietdijk: The principles of our business are the same – offer quality customer service, flexibility and a commitment to innovation. What has changed over time is the amount of business we do in the handling of wind turbine components. Although the total amount of wind business is down in the Gulf Coast region as a result of the economic recession, it is still a very large part of our business at three of the seven terminals that we operate in this geographic area.
PES: What do you mean by a “commitment to innovation?”
JR: We never stop asking how we can improve our business operations. Our work in the wind industry provides a perfect example. We engineered custom equipment and performance operations to make us uniquely qualified to handle this type of cargo. We began with a vision centred on a fundamental question: “How can we handle this type of cargo more effectively and efficiently than anyone in the industry?” The answer was in customizing our trucks and equipment, providing specialized training to our staff, and working with customers on their storage needs. A tower section can be more than 60ft long and weight more than 60 tons. We now know exactly how to handle this cargo.
PES: Houston is your headquarters. Tell us about the other cities in which you do business…
JR: We do business in seven coastal locations. We manage cargo from all over the world – from industrialized Northern Mexico to South America, the Far East and Europe. We do work in the wind business at most of our operations, but to varying degrees. At Corpus Christi and Freeport, the wind business accounts for almost 90 per cent of our volume. In Houston, our business is a mixture of wind, general and project cargo, containers and steel. We handle mainly steel in Brownsville, but the Port of Brownsville and Gulf Stream Marine are well poised to handle wind components as the need arises.
