The Supervisory Board of Van Oord intends to nominate Govert van Oord as the new CEO of Van Oord. He succeeds Pieter van Oord, who is to become the new CEO of Dutch airport Schiphol.

The formal appointment of Govert van Oord (pictured above) will take place at Van Oord’s Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on April 11, 2024. The company’s supervisory board states that it is ‘pleased to be able to transfer the leadership of the family business from the fourth to the fifth generation Van Oord family.’

Govert van Oord has been with Van Oord since 2002 and has worked for the company in the Middle East, Spain and Brazil, among others. He is currently responsible for the Dredging & Infra Business Unit as managing director. He is 53 years old and studied civil engineering in Delft and did an MBA at the IMD in Switzerland.

Also read: Van Oord installs first turbine at South Fork offshore wind farm

Pieter van Oord to Schiphol

Pieter van Oord led Van Oord as CEO for over fifteen years and has been with Van Oord for a total of thirty years. Pieter will join Van Oord’s Supervisory Board at a later date. He will be nominated by the Supervisory Board of Schiphol NV as the new CEO of Schiphol.

Pieter van Oord
Pieter van Oord (picture by Schiphol).

‘We congratulate Pieter on this proposed appointment as CEO of Schiphol which is also an appreciation for Van Oord given the great societal significance and challenge of this role,’ states Niek Hoek, chairman of the Supervisory Board. ‘We are grateful to Pieter for his ongoing commitment and leadership. Through his entrepreneurship, Van Oord has transformed itself from a dredging company into a broad maritime contractor.’

Hoek adds: ‘In particular, the growth in offshore wind has resulted in Van Oord now being strongly positioned with two Business Units (Dredging & Infra and Offshore Energy). The company contributes daily to the major societal issues surrounding climate adaptation and energy transition. On behalf of the Supervisory Board, we are pleased that Govert will take on the role of CEO, giving the company a fifth-generation CEO.’

Also read: Van Oord wins offshore wind contracts in Baltic Sea and Taiwan