KPM
Royal Interocean Lines
NedlloydFrom cadet to captain
Each bar is a spell aboard one ship, placed in the column for his rank at the time. Read down the years to follow the climb: the early zig-zags between ranks, the first brief commands in 1957, and continuous command from 1961. Select a bar to see the ship, or a numbered marker to read the story.
Stories along the way
His papers
The documents he carried through his career. Select one to see it full size.
Monsterboekje (zeemansboek)
His Dutch seaman’s discharge book, issued in ’s-Gravenhage on 20 November 1942, when he entered nautical college. Its entries give most of the ships, ranks and dates on this site.
Diploma, Eerste Stuurman Grote Handelsvaart, 1955
His chief officer’s diploma for the ocean-going merchant service, examined in ’s-Gravenhage on 17 August 1955. As the red line says, it also qualified him to serve as kapitein (master) of an ocean-going ship: his master’s ticket.
Radiotelephone operator, 1957
Certificate of proficiency as radiotelephone operator on Dutch ships, The Hague, 15 November 1957.
Tripulante Marítimo, 1975
Brazilian crew service card, issued at Durban on 24 April 1975 and stamped by Straat Honshu.
Seaman’s identification card, 1977
Signed on as master of Safocean Albany on 23 May 1977. Its last entry, stamped 6 December 1980, closes his career on Nedlloyd Sinoutskerk.
RIL seaman’s identity card, 1978
Royal Interocean Lines identity card, Hong Kong, 25 April 1978.
The fleet
Every ship he served on, in the order he joined them.
Sources
- Service book and service-history sheet give the ships, ranks, dates and ports. Where a date is illegible, it is worked out from the length of the stint recorded in the book and the neighbouring entries, and shown with “c.”.
- KJCPL / KPM seniority lists (ranglijsten) 1956–1977 confirm his rank year by year.
- R.I.L. Post, the Royal Interocean Lines staff magazine, published by the Vereniging van Oud-personeel der KJCPL. The stories here are retold in summary with issue and page references, and link to the original issues on varenisfijner.nl.
- Delpher, the Dutch national newspaper archive (KB), for the 1957 Legundi article and the 1963 shipping columns.
- Eyewitness and local-history accounts of the 1963 Aimee Lykes grounding (fad.co.za; Clansthal Conservancy).
- Family accounts, including the origin of his nickname.
- Nijmegen newspaper, December 1957: “Nijmeegse KPM-gezagvoerder was de Indonesiërs te slim af”.
- Ship particulars from varenisfijner.nl, marhisdata.nl and the Wereldmuseum, KITLV and Nationaal Archief collections.
- Photographs: each is credited beside the image. Photographs by R.J. Bersma (varenisfijner.nl) are used with his kind permission.