Control of water transportation

When reinforcing the Markermeer dikes, large quantities of building materials are delivered by ship, especially stones and sand. On behalf of Alliantie Markermeerdijken, AVW IJkopnames checks whether the quantities being loaded or unloaded are correct. "We are an independent agency and have respect for both the skipper and our client. That is quite unique in our world," says director Cees Idzenga.

AVW IJkopnames has been in existence since 1989 and was founded at the time by the late Adrie van Weelden. Idzenga is now at the helm, serving skipper and client according to the same philosophy and with the utmost respect. "I myself am a skipper's son, so the connection with shipping is so strong that we can relate well to that world," Idzenga explains. "In every inspection, we come aboard the ship, in the private domain of the skipper. We are so impartial that we don't come on board to shortchange the skipper, but just neatly determine what's inside. This ultimately benefits the skipper as well as the supplier and receiver. For example, we are also regularly active in the Rotterdam and Amsterdam port area, making a draft survey on incoming or outgoing ocean-going vessels to determine the quantities."

On the Markermeer dikes project, AVW IJ head inspectors board the various unloading embankments and determine the volume delivered based on an in-and-out measurement. "These are gigantic quantities. Impossible to check all that. We therefore conduct the calibration surveys at random in the various sub-areas. Initially the goal was to inspect 50% of all ships, due to corona that percentage is slightly lower because the guidelines did not allow us to come on board for a while," Idzenga concludes.