From Chemical Engineering to Maritime Leadership: Claudia Beumer’s Journey

In this episode of The Wavemakers Podcast, we sit down with Claudia Beumer, a leader in maritime decarbonization who transitioned from corporate commercial roles to founding her own environmetal consultancy company, C4 Fuels. With a background in chemical engineering, Claudia's journey into shipping, alternative fuels, and sustainability was unexpected but transformative.

💡 Topics Covered:

How diving and a career pivot led Claudia into the maritime industry
The unique culture of shipping and why people either stay forever or leave fast
The power of relationships and networking in a global industry
Lessons from 15 years in maritime and what makes the industry special
The challenge of moving fast while bringing people along in digitalization & decarbonization
Why she took the leap into entrepreneurship and what she learned in her first year
How diversity and inclusion have always been part of maritime but need better visibility
Her thoughts on alternative fuels like ammonia, LNG, and biofuels
The future of shipping in 2050 and the importance of smart digital solutions
 If Claudia was a ship, what kind of ship would she be? Find out in this episode!

Tune in now for insights into maritime innovation, leadership, and the future of fuels—and don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe!

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#MaritimeIndustry #Shipping #GreenFuels #Decarbonization #Leadership #Digitalization #wavemakerspodcast 

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Transcript

[Music] Hello and welcome to another episode of The Wavmakers PPodcast where we focus on the stories of the leaders at the intersection of Maritime decarbonization and digital transformation today's guest has more than around 15 years of experience in Maritime industry she has been championing decarbonization from very commercial roles and lately she decided to be her own champion and to open her own company see for fuels she's also a board director at the international bunker industry Association and I would like you to join me in welcoming cloudia Boer thank you how did that happen what was your journey into shipping it's a very interesting journey and I don't think I've ever expected that I would end up in this industry because by education I'm a chemical engineer so I've been working in the in the chemical industry for quite some years and at some point in time I was working for a company called Emerson in the instrumentation and analytical part and it was really nice I really liked the company but our business was really small and it was time for something new and in those days they just launched a certified bunker measurement solution so mass flow meters for bunkering and they were looking for somebody who wanted to sell that for the Netherlands and I thought H I like diving I guess I like Maritime as well so let's try that and yeah that was a that was a good gamble because I really like Maritime and it was love at first sight so indeed that's around 15 years ago and already pretty soon I said that I would never go to any other industry anymore and yeah so far so good I'm still here and we are happy to have you thank you this is a one similarity between the two was cuz I studied environmental chemistry and quality control and uh sustainability and similarly uh the love for water eventually brought me to shipping and I guess once you're here now we're here it is but some people said to me in the beginning that you either love it or you hate it when you get in and you love it you will never get out anymore and if you don't like it you will leave the industry pretty soon and you will never come back and I think that's true because a lot of people that I talked to that that came into the maritime industry by coincidence they're still here and they will never leave again so it's yeah it's a similar story for many people I think and how did that experience uh shape you and with this I also want to reflect on who is Claudia behind the titles and behind what she does but also how did this industry affect uh that as well one of the things that um that I experienced pretty soon when I came into the maritime industry is is the open mind open-minded uh attitude of people when just take an example when I was working in the chemical industry of course which also is a very male-dominated industry I always needed at least five six maybe seven meetings before my counterpart started to trust that I knew what I was talking about but then you come into the maritime industry and I can still remember my first vessel visit the chief engineer was so happy that there was a woman visiting his vessel he said oh how nice a woman visiting my vessel I can show you everything do you want to see the engine room do you want to see this and he was so proud of what he could show he really considered his vessel as being his his baby and he already assumed that I knew what I was talking about because I was there and that is something that I have experienced over the years as well people have been traveling around the world they have been sailing they have always been used to be creative find Solutions and um they they start from the good of the people until you prove that you don't know what you're talking about and then you're out but it's a different starting point so there is this this trust and this this Mutual understanding and passion and then from there you start to build a relationship and you start to work with each other and that that open-mindedness and that that creative Spirit of people in the maritime industry how they solve things how they handle challenges that is something that I really like and that's also what yeah what kept me busy and what what kept me energized and um inspired over the years that you can help people to find those Solutions yes we have a lot of challenges that's that's a fact and we've just been talking two days during a conference about all of the challenges ahead of us but there is so many people in our industry that manag to turn those challenges into opportunities and find creative ways to either make money out of them or find a technical solution and move on and that is something which which I really like which apparently has been part of who I am been who I am for as long as I can remember but I now found an industry where I can also be like that MH and that's very nice I also experienced similar things and now with your final words I realized actually this is one of these industries where they don't try to change you yeah you have the space to be yourself and there's so much diversity uh among the people and how they are and the cultures and that's quite unique yeah and and and you you touch upon diversity there and um I had a a conversation a while ago it was a workshop at the the Dutch government and they wanted to have a a brainstorm session with some people from the industry on how can we as a Dutch government become a leader in in diversity and inclusion in the maritime industry and um there were some people there that have been in the industry for way longer than I am and the funny thing was that they also mentioned that if you look at the different Industries around the world diversity in Maritime has always been a given if you look at a a typical vessel crew they have so many different nationalities and they all work together they don't judge each other and and of course there is still a need for more women in the industry and we still have to work on yeah treating everybody in the right way but diversity is something which has always been present in the maritime industry we are maybe not utilizing it enough or we could do that better but it's it's part of the industry the times are changing where it requires this different skill sets and experiences perspectives cultural effect to join forces and it would be fun y yes and across uh these 15 years so far was there any advice that you have received that you carried on through your journey uh definitely when um I I like to move fast I like change I like to do something new quite often and at one point in my career I had a manager that said Claudia you're always running at a pace of 200 miles an hour but sometimes you have to understand that not everybody can keep up with that pace so just look over your shoulder and see if people are still with you and that is something that at that moment in time I thought yeah right but now that I see the the challenges that we have in our industry and that for many people it's it's difficult to adapt to the new world and and the changes that we have ahead of us I remember those words quite often that indeed not everybody is so adaptable to change and they need a little bit more time to get used to things and understand before they make a decision and yeah those words have turned out to be really valuable especially when we talk about digitalization and decarbonization changes don't come overnight and how did you balance that nature of yours to want to run and the need to slow down do you still try to balance that I'm asking because I need this advice I haven't found the golden solution yet because it is still part of me uh but indeed sometimes just look in the mirror and think okay I have to understand that not everybody is the same so take a step back slow down a little bit and then seeing that that has an impact that helps me becoming aware again of of slowing down and yeah I just go to to the gym quite often to get rid of the energy that I would like to put in other stuff so it's it's it's indeed finding that balance but as you said before our industry is one of the few industries that doesn't that doesn't want to change people so the people that I've worked with so far they also accept that sometimes I might go a little bit too fast and I just mentioned Claudia take a step back slightly slower and then everything will work out well so it's yeah will I ever change completely I don't think so but luckily there are many people in the industry that know me and just pull me back a little bit sometimes and how come you decided to embark on your own where did that come from yeah it was not something which was on my wish list for a long time many people always dream to be their own entrepreneur I I never had that I never thought about something like that but at some point in my career I realized that um for me it's really important to actively contribute to decarbonization digitalization making the industry a little bit better and I also realize that working for a company you don't always have the means to do that because there is a strategy you have colleagues you have a a c yeah a certain direction that you have to follow and at some point in time I was talking to one of my friends in the industry and I was complaining a little bit like it's not going fast enough and I would like to do more more and I really really miss the alternative fuels and the discussions around it and he said well then why don't you start your own company me I don't think I can do that but that was where the seed was planted and I started to think about it and then I realized okay if I am running my own company I can pick and choose the projects that I want to work on and really actively contribute to making that industry slightly better and yeah of course I'm not a huge dead level so I took a little bit of time to investigate what does it take to start your own company what if it doesn't work uh what are the Alternatives um and and have a backup plan and that was where I decided okay if I don't do it now I will never do it so just take the jump start and see and if it doesn't work out at least I've tried and now I've just uh embarked on the second year already so time flies when you're having fun and it's it's truly the best decision that I've ever made yes once we feel that freedom it's interesting you get a lot more work also and you depend of your on yourself yeah but there's this psychological sense of Freedom yeah and once you feel that I don't know it's it's difficult I think to go back it is it is and um I had a lot of people telling me that oh it's so brave what you have done but I I don't really feel like it was a brave move it just felt that it was the right move at that moment in time and honestly I've never worked as hard as I have done over the last year so it's not that it's not an easy ride but the rewards that you get from it and indeed the the satisfaction that you can really make a difference and do what you believe in that's worth it MH and that's way more worth than paychecks or whatever yeah what was maybe some interesting story that you had over this past one year or an interesting project that you worked on that was quite fulfilling for you actually everything I've done was was really fulfilling and interesting but it's it it's more the experience when you send out your first invoice for example and um when you experience for the first time that somebody reaches out to you because they have heard in the industry that you might be able to help them for I've been working as a as an employee for over 20 years so you always believe that people ask you because of the company that you represent and then suddenly people start to ask you because of you it's like oh they're asking me they they really they really think I know how to help them and that is um it's an eye opener mhm so I had a number of those instances over the last year and I think those are the the most remarkable moments since I've started this journey that you start to become so self-aware that oh it's about me it's about my knowledge I had a discussion with Max also at some point he's like how does it feel to have your company in shipping and I said it's not a company until we have a first paying client and then the first pay client came in then he was like okay how does it feel I'm like what if it's just first one yeah and then the recommendations start and you think like wow actually we are creating something that people find valuable yeah it is uh it's quite a valuable this emotional Journey that you go through and I can I also work out a lot and I find parallels between the gym life and the entrepreneurship life yeah uh psychologically as well like you think like I don't know how I'm going do it and then you do one rep or you do whatever and then you have this sense of like okay I'm tired but I'm proud of myself and fulfilled by this um so it's it's really interesting that's a really nice parallel because sometimes in the gym people say that the most difficult step is to get off the couch and to go to the gym and that's the same with starting your own company it's it's not something that you do like this you have to think about it and you have to be brave to do it but once you step onto that Journey indeed every time you start okay it's the first invoice it's the first big project oh it's a new customer and oh it's this and yeah you keep growing in that and it's the yeah looking back at things that you have done which gives you the sense of Pride and yeah satisfaction yes yeah indeed it's it's a good comparison and uh even some of the thoughts like in the the thoughts are like what if you quit oh maybe I'm hungry maybe you know maybe today I didn't sleep enough and when you're Running Company you have similar process slightly different thoughts what if this but what if that and you just need to like do it just keep going yeah we have to get rid of those what if because that's that's something that's so buil into our system and we we tend to always think about the negative things what if I fail what if I can't do this what if they are not happy and for for me that was one of the most scarest things that um when when I finish a project to ask the customer okay can we evaluate what what could I have done better what could I what was good what was not good it's scary to ask for feedback I was really nervous luckily they were satisfied but you have to also learn when something did not went very well because that's when you grow but that's yeah also a journey It is Well reflecting on that Journey um and the industry if you were a ship which ship would you be and why well my favorite ship is an l&g carrier mhm but okay I don't really identify myself with an l&g carrier because they are yeah quite bulky and big but yeah I like them but if I really have to identify myself at a ship and I've been thinking about this it's most probably a containership mhm it's it's it's colorful it's diverse it's yeah full of surprises you never know what you get when you open a container there is so much in there that it's really it can be everything so maybe that's the best comparison between me and a ship container vessel and it um delivers things to many people gives value to many although that is probably true for most of the ships yeah but I think people are the most happy when they when the containership does the job yeah although I would not like to be full of cheap Goods but hey you can't have it all now but that is indeed um and if if you talk about that I think as an industry what we what we have to do better is spread the word about how essential our industry is and we all know and we value the ships that sail around the world and we value all of the things that we do when it comes to decarbonization but there's such a huge audience out there that doesn't see it and they just assume assume indeed that those vessels bring their goods and they want to have it today and as cheap as possible because we are so spoiled of having everything we want today that they don't realize that it's all being brought to them by ships that burn fuel mhm so instead of always talking about people in the industry we might also need to Market ourselves slightly better in the outside world yes yes those that grow up in the poort cities they are usually the ones who end up in the industry as well yeah and the rest things that things just fall in front of the door yeah true yeah what do you think is a useful skill to have for the industry now when we are on boarding the newcomers being flexible mhm being open to change um but also respect the history we need to change and that is why we need new people with a different mindset with a different skill set but we also have to respect how the industry has been working for so long because it's only when you understand the past that you can contribute to the Future and that is something that is that is really important and um I have a daughter she's 20 and of course she's the new generation grew up with a mobile phone grew up with talking about inclusion diversity and everything and I'm also trying to educate her that not for everybody that is a given there are also people with a different history and a different background and if you really want to move to the Future you have to understand that as well and that's a skill that in in my perspective is essential if you want to come into this industry as newcomer but also you have to love people because it's a it's a people business our industry is driven by relationships and trusting each other and working with each other so you have to uh you have to like that uh does your daughter plan to join no no I keep pushing no she has a completely different uh View and she has some other Ambitions but she got inspired by our industry and and she really likes when I'm coming home with examples and talking about it so I'm I'm still planting some seeds so maybe one day she will but uh yeah I'm not counting on it no no if we look into a magic crystal ball uh and look towards 2050 how would you like that to be like for our industry I hope that we have a a healthy mix of different fuels mhm where um there is a there is a matching fuel for every type of vessel for every type of company for every type of trading route that we really value seaf farers and and their welfare and how they work with these fuels because that's something that I see a lot we always talk about the technological challenges of new fuels the commercial challenges but we also have a very large pool of people that have to work with these fuels and now they are in 99% of the cases working with one fuel but then suddenly they have four five six different fuels so that we really focus on that how we bring those people like what I had to do slow down take them along educate them on what's coming ahead of them and the different fuels with their different risks so that that will be a really good or at least a a proper focus in our industry moving forward and that we have a smart way of working yes we like pen and paper in our industry and honestly I'm also one of those oldfashioned people I just moved from pen and paper to a digital remarkable because that still feels like paper and pen so I also am not that um open to new technologies but to make our Industry future proof we have to we have to start digitalizing we have to find smart ways to do things because there are not that many people that want to work in our industry anymore so I hope that we become efficient and clean and yeah a very good spot to work for many different people now that you've mentioned uh staff on board and them handling different fuels uh with a chemical background I think you have a totally different view how does that help or not help yeah um let's take ammonia as an example um when people first started to talk about ammonia as a fuel of course my chemical background first came up like no don't not before I retire just put it aside don't do it but one of the the companies that I that I work for is sgmf that's a nonprofit organization and they establish guidelines for the safe use of all of the new fuels and in sgmf they also spend a lot of time working on ammonia so what do we need to do to safely use ammonia and to safely bunker ammonia and I had to change my mind I'm not there yet but I do see that ammonia has possibilities for the future if we get indeed the skills level up to the right level if we find the the proper ways to do it safe if we find green ammonia and everything so at first instance my chemical background was more a burden than than an advantage but okay I had to change my mind and and in general when you look look at the new fuels it's only an advantage that you have that chemical background because you understand maybe faster than other people what the pros and the cons are and that they are they all have their own specific manual and way of handling so in general it's an advantage but sometimes it's yeah also we have to be open-minded as chemistries so yeah yes I I also remind myself of that especially if I'm trying to Champion Innovation then I have to have this open mind approach true what would be maybe your advice to me you are already very open-minded and and and understanding your own weaknesses sounds really negative but indeed as you just mentioned that you understand that as a chemist you are not always open to things or that you have to change and adapt that's already a really really good habit and yeah don't lose that stay open-minded but critical because that's um it's it's the mix between the two that our industry needs we need to be critical constructive but also open-minded and indeed if we are wrong we have to admit that and say okay we might be a bit too hesitant you have proven that it can be done prove it let's do it so yeah just just stay critical and open-minded and keep doing these podcasts because it's as we said before it's not just about the technology it's not just about commercial it's about the people because without people with the right mindset and the right Drive in our industry we are not going to reach 2050 so we really have to uh focus on those people in the industry it's also for me a journey of learning and I always wonder okay how does one navigate this whole landscape of different stakeholders across the industry yeah I I've I've been trying to realize that um or I've been trying to understand how for me that process worked coming into the industry from a completely different background starting to understand the the complex structure of the bunker industry but all of the different stakeholders and all of them having their own perspective you don't learn that in school you don't learn that by going to a course or or or just by nature so you have to learn that by talking to people and understand their perspective and I think that's also when we have new young people coming into this industry talk to people and now I sound really old but I know that for a lot of the young people it's even scary to pick up the phone they're used to sending a text message trying to understand our industry and how the complexity and the relationships work you don't learn that by sending a message you have to talk to people you have to go out out sit around the table have a cup of coffee with them listen to their story and that's that's the best way to learn it so understand all those different perspectives that's the that's the basis of becoming successful in this industry I just remembered how uh one day I was on my way to work and I got a call and this was just when I joined MK and I was like who's calling me it's like 7:30 a.m. and then I picked it up and it was one of the suppli ERS who saw some video of a new vessel and wondered why the funnel was moved and they're like hi I saw this and I was wondering why was this like this by the way we have this technology and I had a cultural shock like I didn't expect this but they were nice and they were very approachable and very friendly it was like just so natural to them yeah and I was listening to him and also processing this cultural shock and then I reach um the office I thought actually this was so nice like it's nice to also hear people because previously to that I was uh doing business development for digital transformation and a lot of it was email based and okay we have formal meetings and we would meet over a coffee but it's just people wouldn't just pick up the phone and call me and I like that I like that it is and and that is one of the things that you really have to have in our industry it's it's a natural interest in people and and and I had an experience a couple of years ago there was somebody reaching out to me via LinkedIn and said hey I see your base in Rotterdam and uh I was wondering maybe we can meet for a cup of coffee I like I don't even know you who who who are you but something just triggered me and said okay we can do that do you want to meet somewhere do you want to visit me in the office I was still working for for one of my previous employers then he said oh no I'm in the area I'll drop by by your office and now I can have a cup of coffee and he just literally said well I like to network I like to help people I like to connect people that in my opinion could contribute to each other's success and we just had a such a nice conversation and he introduced me to some people where eventually also some business came out of it I could help him with some things so it was really the basic of a natural interest people and helping each other and and even today he was sending me a message hey I see you're in Dubai and do you have enough connections there I still know some people from the days that I was working there if you want I can connect you to some people and that is something that I've never experienced before before I was working in this industry that that that Personal Touch people picking up the phone asking how you doing having a conversation it's so nice but yeah sometimes it's like what's happening no I'm not used to this you have to open up for that and then you uh it will pay itself back I was also commenting with Max how we feel that it is so foreign to people to even think of entering the industry but it seems that once they're in the industry kind of picks them up and like okay and takes them onward and there are so many opportunities to also shift roles and places but it feels like in a cocoon once you are known to people as well yeah yeah and that is that is that is one of the no no it's not a downside but I've always felt I felt guilty that I've never been a seaer for example then you are among so many people that have years and years of experience and have seen so much and and that have seen and experience all of those challenges in real life and then I have to yeah I'm actually a chemical engineer I just came in by coincidence and I'm beyond that now but in the beginning I really felt guilty I felt like I missed part of the experience that I needed but nobody blamed me for that it was just my own feeling like H why am I missing that part but nobody ever said anything about it or said oh you might not know what you're talking about because you have never been a sea fa farer no I felt guilt as well especially when I was driving Innovation for Mk I was like how can I tell someone that something needs to be implemented when I was never there in their shoes and I felt that guilt and I now feel less of it because I'm also learning and I feel like okay I'm somehow trying to make up for it uh but it is interesting that it is a thing and another person that I will be interviewing uh when I was having a conversation they said to me well we didn't have a sefir background and we noticed that some of the people who you interview have that like we are here by accident and I said yeah this is the point like we should also show that element true yeah but that is that is the beauty of our industry you have so many different aspects and it's it's not that everybody that wants to join the maritime industry can only be a seaf fairer we we have lawyers we have salese we have technical people you can do everything you want in this industry but yeah it's just maybe our own habit that we feel like we're missing something well when we put it out on the surface like this then it will go away exactly yeah it is it is if I pass you the microphone with questions do you have any questions for me yeah I'm I'm I am curious um because doing podcasts is not something which um yeah it's not on people's list like okay when I grow when I grow up I want to do podcast so how did you came to this idea I have no idea how I came up with it because the desire for it appeared I think seven years ago and actually the founder of these Studios uh is my friend so at that time another mutual friends said both of you want to do some podcast why don't you talk to each other and I was at that moment in Singapore he was here in Dubai and he was faster with getting to do it so he started uh also like put up a desk and started talking and he was really passionate about it and it was picking up and it became then uh the separate company and I was observing and kind of like enjoying his journey and I couldn't forgive myself not because I I didn't have the same vision for it but it's like I don't like uh leaving my ideas untouched so if it came to me I feel responsibility to try and then later when uh I was in a corporate it felt that it didn't feel like I had enough time or enough freedom to shape it in a way because even if you do it as a as part of a corporate there is is still an angle to it that you have to follow and so I didn't have the freedom to just completely give it freedom to be what it is uh to shape itself and then when we decided to form better SE I said okay I don't know how I'm going to Anchor this but this is something that I really want to do and conveniently enough uh there was a studio for me to try it uh so that is what it is and then again like I'm not trained at all in media uh I have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing but I just kind of go with the flow but I really enjoy these conversations and I felt that throughout last year as we were also building batter SE it was almost like this each of these conversations was guiding me uh and I could see that later when I reviewed the episodes and ref I was like man got this advice exactly at the moment when I needed it and then I just keep doing it because I enjoy and I see how much it gives me on a personal level and also later when I review the episodes I pick up something new from it so I feel like every time I go back to it I have a different experience of the episode and I'm always at the end proud that we have that moment and a memory to take over so yeah I'm still doing it yeah but it's it's nice to have those conversations with people and indeed with every conversation you get inspired yes and that's that's yeah okay perhaps that's in every industry but yeah our industry is special and many people have so many interesting stories and that that keeps adding value to who you are and shapes your journey as well so I will yeah yes but why the focus on am was also uh because when I was at MK I was talking to different Engineers uh project managers different people in the company as I was trying to inspire them to be a part of this decarbonization movement and then by them sharing their own stories I realized it's a whole like box of treasures that no one talks about and I was like I want to hear this story I wish someone else heard your story so this is I think why this idea of podcast and martime came together and are now the way maker but yeah I'm glad and I'm happy to be in it so it's it's really fun to do and I have one more question because what kind of ship would you be I am really curious oh I did have this answer before uh yes and I I now I reflected is that same still but it's it is I wanted to be a Feer vessel yes because I I just like to connect things that seem just there and I just like to like connect that bridge and uh I like to feel the impact of whatever I'm doing and I kind of feel that that is that bridge so yeah interesting yeah nice yeah but it's it's it's also a very good question and one of the things that I have experienced in in in my years in the marittime industry is that ships they really have a soul they have an identity and they are all different but they all have something special and and when you start to get more into it you start to also see those special aspects and a tugboat for example I never really like them but now that I understand how they work what they do they are so impressive iive Inland vessels most of the people look at them and they think oh it's just a family on an inland vessel with the the car on the deck they are very impressive when it comes to technology and and efficiency and everything so all of those different types of vessels have a very specific character and and the soul and yeah so it's it's a nice question to ask people how they what kind of vessel they would identify themselves with I don't even remember how I came to that question is in the first place whenever I was putting it together but I like that it uh connects the person and also speaks about the industry so we'll keep it and maybe defitely I can add another one thank you for being my guest today and I look forward to more in the future when we reflect and also I hope that this cies keep going so that we get that opportunity again absolutely and you definitely inspired me so thank you for inviting me and uh I really enjoyed it I'm very glad thank you thank you

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