MEMBER NEWS: Donna’s return strengthens marine offering

January 16, 2024
MEMBER NEWS: Donna’s return strengthens marine offering

Aberdeen-based risk management specialist Marex is welcoming Donna Van Damme back to the team as marine consultant.

The appointment strengthens Marex’s mission to grow a balanced business and deliver more services and products of value within hazardous environments.

Originally from the north-east of England, Donna travelled the world working for Maersk as a cadet and junior officer. She moved on to work for Svitzer as an officer on a harbour tug on the river Tees for five years before family relocation took her to Aberdeen. There, she spent three and a half years working at Marex from 2013.

Now based in Lowestoft, Donna has been working under contract for Marex for the last 18 months and officially rejoined the team on 1 January 2024.

“I loved my time working for Marex in Aberdeen so it’s great to be back,” she said.

“I’ll be working on growing our profile here in East Anglia, as well as continuing to carry out vessel inspections and marine assurance activities. Marex has such a strong professional reputation, having been dealing with safety cases in the energy industry from the start.

“It’s this breadth of specialist knowledge that makes us so well placed to support organisations working in other hazardous industries.”

Managing director Wayne Henderson said: “We’re delighted to welcome Donna back to Marex. Her proven and extensive experience in the marine environment will be invaluable as we continue our transition to a better energy future.

“Marex’s expertise in the marine sector has provided significant opportunities in renewables, especially in the East Anglia region, with our reputation allowing us to connect with other like-minded organisations.

“We work hard to build trust because our aim is to develop long-term relationships with our clients. It’s good to know our honest and open-minded approach seems to strike a chord within the team as well!”

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AREG is the original energy transition organisation, working on behalf of members to empower the energy supply chain and champion its expertise. Please get in touch if you have any questions or would like to find out more about membership.

AREG has played an important role in the growth of Scotland’s renewable energy sector, engaging the supply chain and developing the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre. However, we are only at the very beginning of the transition that AREG was established to both lead and support so there are still opportunities for companies to get into the constantly evolving renewables supply chain. We look forward to continuing our work together as renewables builds on its place as Scotland’s main source of power, and as we seek to deliver real change in the crucial areas of heat and transport.

Scottish Renewables

Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce has worked closely with AREG since its formation. The recent progress in the developments of offshore wind projects by Equinor and Vattenfall are as a result of the work of the group over many years. The north-east is known as the oil and gas capital of Europe. At the Chamber, we believe the region must evolve its position to being recognised as the energy capital. Whilst hydrocarbons will continue to be essential in driving our economy for years to come, the generation of renewable resources will play an increasingly important role in providing cost-effective power, innovative development and economic growth.

Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce

The enthusiasm and dedication of the early group that would become AREG was fundamental in us choosing to launch All-Energy in Aberdeen. The first tiny show was held in 2001, and AREG’s Chairman at the time, Jeremy Cresswell, played such an active role that I often describe him in terms such as All-Energy’s ‘midwife’. All-Energy is now the UK’s largest renewable and low carbon energy exhibition and conference in terms of number of attendees, space booked, and number of exhibiting companies. As AREG became firmly established, their presence and support for the event grew spectacularly over the years. We thank them most sincerely for their invaluable input.

All-Energy

Vattenfall has forged a strong working relationship with AREG through the development of the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre. AREG has worked tirelessly on behalf of the North East and it can take enormous credit for the growth of sustainable energy in the region and the path it has cleared for the region to capture further investment.

Vattenfall

Aberdeen City and Shire is emerging as a key location for renewables by successfully transferring its world-class oil and gas expertise into the sector and AREG has done much to advance this through a broad range of initiatives. It has acted as a catalyst in driving further investment in the local economy by engaging with companies, Government, public bodies and existing projects and we have been pleased to support their efforts. Scottish Enterprise will continue to engage with AREG as we increase Scotland’s use of renewable energy.

Scottish Enterprise