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henk hensen, auteur henk hensen, nautical author henk hensen

AUTHOR

Henk Hensen

Meet the author

Henk Hensen

Captain Henk Hensen is a Master Mariner and was a Port of Rotterdam pilot for 23 years. Before becoming a Rotterdam pilot, he sailed worldwide on various ship types, from bulk carrier to passenger ship. During his years as a pilot, he was stationed at the Pilot Office of the Rotterdam Port Authority for five years. During that time, he started the first simulator courses for harbour pilots and tug captains, and participated in many port studies, including simulator research.

Following his pilot career, he continued to work as marine consultant on the nautical aspects of port studies, harbour tug advice and simulator training. Projects have included port entrance and port development studies, including port studies on simulators, for the ports of Rotterdam, Amsterdam, as well as for several other ports in the world.

Furthermore, he has carried out and has been involved in various other nautical studies, such as nautical safety studies, tug performance studies for ship bridge simulators, studies for the development of LNG terminals, container terminals, mooring simulation studies, simulator studies for safe bridge passages and safe bridge design, studies on safe and efficient harbour tug use, etc. He has been involved in investigations and legal cases regarding tug accidents, either as project leader or as an expert witness.

As an author he published the monograph “Manoeuvring Single Screw Vessels fitted with a Controllable Pitch Propeller in Confined Waters” (1994); chapters of the books “The Nautical Institute on Pilotage and Ship Handling” (1990) and “The Work of the Harbourmaster” (1998), and numerous articles in nautical magazines. His latest work includes the monograph “Bow Tug Operations with Azimuth Stern Drive Tugs” (latest edition: 3 edition 2016), “Tug Stability” (2016) and “Tug Use in Port” (latest edition: 4th edition 2021).

Captain Hensen is a Fellow of The Nautical Institute and member of the International Federation of Shipmasters. He is Patron and Fellow of the ITA (International Tug masters Association).

He was elected as `Tug Personality of the Year 2010′ by BTA (British Tug owners Association).

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