Leen Struyf joined the outside sales team at Antwerp shipping company Boeckmans on 14 November 2022. Her main focus is on the commercial representation of breakbulk shipping lines. “I am a breakbulk lady at heart,” she says.
“Together with a colleague, I manage the outside sales for all shipping companies. My focus is mainly on the commercial representation of our breakbulk lines to further develop them,” Struyf says. “This involves both maintaining the existing customer portfolio and looking for new customers. We respond to the changing market and offer a total package. We try to think along with customers to get their cargo, such as timber, steel and project cargo, to its destination as efficiently and quickly as possible.”
Flagship
“Breakbulk is very important for the port of Antwerp and is our showpiece. Breakbulk handling requires a huge amount of knowledge and is entrenched in the Port of Antwerp. This is where we can make a difference compared to other European ports,” she continues.
Develop
In her previous position, Struyf worked as a trade coordinator at chemicals distributor Manuchar in Antwerp for over a year and a half. “I learnt a lot at Manuchar, but was ready for a new challenge. I wanted to develop myself further in a bigger, more commercial role. Boeckmans is an established company in Antwerp and offers a lot of growth opportunities. For example, we want to further develop our own shipping company Scaldic Med Line and position it even better in the European market.”
Language skills
Struyf made a career at Panalpina, Aprojects, Broekman Project Services and Sotramar & De Keyser. “I ended up in the maritime sector by chance after studying as a translator-interpreter at the Antwerp Lessius Hogeschool because of my language skills in English and Spanish,” she says. “I started my career in 2005 at DHL Industrial Projects in Stabroek as a junior forwarder in the general cargo department and immediately found my niche there.”
Warm nest
From September 2015 to May 2021, she was working as business specialist partner support & sales complaints at Eneco Belgium. “The blood runs where it can’t go. I am at heart a breakbulk lady. I missed the breakbulk sector too much so I made the switch to the maritime world again,” she says. “I originally performed mainly operational functions and over time rolled into a commercial role. It is the alternation between the operational and the commercial and the fact that you need to know both that makes the breakbulk sector so interesting. Not a single day is the same. I also really feel at ease at Boeckmans and have the feeling of being in a ‘warm nest’.”
