Careers - Jacoliena Visser

Project Engineer

Working as a project engineer at Mercon is very interesting. From the tender stage until the load out, I’m involved in a project. I very much enjoy the close co-operation with the customers but also with the foremen of our fitting & welding teams. These foremen look very thoroughly at my designs. Their feed back helps me to optimize my engineering skills. A big difference with an engineering company, is that you can really see the end result of your work.

During my previous job at ALE Heavylift, I made engineering plans for transporting heavy structures from A to B. As a result I gained a good understanding about the different transportation methods and their suitability under different circumstances.

This experience comes in handy at Mercon. Before I start engineering, I think of the most suitable building method. The team of fitters and welders build the construction on our yard in accordance with my drawings and construction plan. I always keep in mind the most suitable way of transporting and this is reflected in the building method.

At Mercon, I started as Heavy Handling Engineer and was offered the opportunity of project engineer after two years. I very much enjoy my work at Mercon as there is a lot of room for personal growth and the company is very flexible and open for your own ideas and initiatives.

Careers - Jasper Wickerhoff

Project Manager

Mercon is a company that can quickly give you a lot of responsibility, if they feel you are up to it. A few months after I started, I was assigned as Site Construction Manager to finish a project destined for the Caspian Sea.

I guided the final integration of a Soft Yoke Mooring system that is currently in operation for oil production.The decks for the topside and the central column were manufactured at Mercon’s Gorinchem yard, whereas the substructure was manufactured in Astrakhan, a Russian city on the Volga river, close to the Caspian Sea. The integration in Astrakhan of the substructure with the central column and two transport sections into a topside was my responsibility. At the picture you see me climbing out of the top of the central column after verifying that E&I and piping works inside were being carried out correctly.
During the project, I stayed on site in Russia for several months and look back at a very interesting time.

Subsequently, I worked for several months as Project Manager (my current role) on a temporary construction site in Vlissingen, the Netherlands for an offshore wind project. My main responsibility there was the optimization of monopiles for the Greater Gabbard Offshore Wind Farm on a 24/7 shift basis.

Before I joined Mercon in 2008, I worked for several years as Systems Engineer in the Aerospace industry in the UK. I’m therefore used to work with capital goods and seeing to certification and quality control procedures. A big difference with Mercon is the shorter lead times and the variety in the projects, which I very much enjoy.

Careers - Erwin van Zomeren

Operations, Planning & Scheduling Manager

Today I am head of Operations, Planning and Scheduling at Mercon but my career started here in a very different way. I followed the two-year training for fitter at Mercon’s own training center which I completed in one year. Ever since I was a child, I was always interested in steel constructions. At the age of eight, I got my first welding machine and by the time I was thirteen, I sold my first steel constructions.

During my first years at Mercon, I worked on different oil & gas platforms that were manufactured at the Gorinchem yard. Then, Mercon asked me to become foreman and take responsibility for a team of fitters and welders. Next, I became senior foreman, chief of one the fabrication halls, construction manager and eventually ended at the Operations, Planning & Scheduling department of which I became the manager last year.

I love being busy and doing multiple things at the same time. My hands-on experience further helps to better control our operations and to see which bottlenecks can arise in project planning. I understand exactly the work that needs to be carried out and the hazards that go together with the execution of the job. My team tries to plan all activities in such a way that safety and health for our workforce is at an optimum level and that the work can be carried out in the most efficient and cost effective way.