INGRID Uppelschoten- Snelderwaard took over the helm of Maersk Namibia in February 2008, as part of her quest “to see the world”. Moving from Rotterdam, where she was route manager for India, Pakistan and the Middle East (stopping at Bangladesh), has also brought her closer to the action. “In Rotterdam I was 40 or more kilometres from the port. Here I can see it outside my window,” she says. Her experience with Maersk includes being part of the team which was responsible for the integration of Maersk and P&O Nedlloyd. That has helped give her an understanding of corporate cultures, which she says remain strong in the Maersk and Safmarine brands. Even though they work well together from the same offices, there is still a different emphasis in each of the teams, she says. That gives the customer the option to work with the team which best suits his or her own business culture. Uppelschoten- Snelderwaard says her “biggest challenge” has been to “get to know everybody and get to know the market.” Some months down the line, she is starting to put her own stamp on the operation – and a large part of the focus is on personal development of the staff. “We have a fantastic team, which is willing to go the extra mile.” She has introduced more training – both systems and personal. “We must continually develop the talents we have,” she says. Uppelschoten- Snelderwaard’s own journey into the freight industry started in Spain where she took a job at a forwarding company as part of her work experience. “One of my teachers said the maritime industry might be the place for me, so here I am many years later”, she says. On her journey to “see the world,” she has to date learnt to speak Dutch, Spanish, English, French and German – “and now I am learning a bit of Afrikaans,” she adds. Her personal measure of success will be when “clients can hear and feel that everybody does business with a smile”.
