John Stevens, Associate Foreman & Deputy Team Leader
Introducing: John Stevens, Associate Foreman & Deputy Team Leader
John Stevens began working at ADM (Amsterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij) when he was 15 – his whole life has revolved around shipbuilding and steelwork.
”Can we wait a minute please…?”, asks John Stevens (51). This conservation about his function as Associate Foreman & Deputy Team Leader at Niron Staal has come at precisely the wrong moment. “I’ve got to concentrate here”. It turns out that he is working on a drop keel and refers to it later on. “Sorry about that, but it’s a complicated job. A drop keel is one that can be raised and lowered. This one is going to be fitted later with a sensor array and comprises a lot of parts that all look like each other. It’s a bit of a jigsaw. If you don’t stay focussed then port and starboard start getting mixed up.”
John, married, father of two children lives in Amsterdam-North, a part of the city whose existence, like his, is entwined with shipbuilding. In good times and bad. “I started at 15 as an apprentice with ADM and have worked in steel and shipbuilding for about 37 years. Deep in my heart I’m really a shipbuilder.
I have worked for ADM, NDSM, Nista, Shipdock and now Niron Staal. At Niron Staal we mostly do rudders and cutters, but I also recently built a gondola and finished off two steerage motors. And, in between, built a 22 x 22 meter helideck. Yes, we keep ourselves busy, so we’re having good times now.”
