Yesterday we received the unexpected notice of the decease of Kees den Braber. After a short but severe illness he died Thursday morning, the first of June, at the age of 66.
Many of you may remember Kees as a very dedicated council member of ESO on behalf of CBOB (NL), until his retreat in 2008. He started in ESO’s council a long time ago, from 1992 when CBOB joined ESO as a member organisation.
Whenever he could he attended ESO’s meetings, often he had to travel from somewhere in France or elsewhere, that is, if the ships businesses allowed this.
When Kees was present at ESO’s Council meetings you couldn’t miss him. He had a clear view on the challenges and problems IWT had to master, especially the sector and regions his entreprise was operating in. He firmly supported cooperation of skippers and he himself was a convinced member of ELV.
He sailed and managed his ship Avanti together with his wife Sari den Braber-de Blaey, who always stood beside him and supported him. We’ll think of her and their children in this great and sudden loss.
ESO and the IWT sector owe a lot to his knowledge and expertise.