Shoulder to shoulder

Görkem Güngör joined the team at Damen Shipyards Antalya in 2018. Since then, he’s really got to know the company, building his skills in a number of different roles, including service engineer, commissioning engineer and project manager.

Opportunity for growth

“I had no idea when I started out at Damen that I would get so many opportunities to grow,” he says. “The development I’ve experienced, and the support I’ve received, has brought me a great deal of happiness, and pride!”

Anything but routine

Today, as Project Manager Team Leader, he gets to work on a variety of Damen vessels, in a function that is, he says, anything but routine. “The nature of this job is that unexpected things can, and do, happen. All the time. It certainly keeps you alert. But one thing I can say with absolute confidence, it’s never boring.”

Every day is a different story

The dynamic nature of his role, Görkem makes clear, is key to his enjoyment of it.

“Every day is a different story,” he elaborates. “Even though we’re often working on ships built in series, I can assure you, no two projects are the same.”

On time for the client

As Team Leader, Görkem occupies a central position in a project, with responsibility for keeping things on the move. That, he states, is not always an easy task.

“I always think about this one project. We were almost finished. Very close to the scheduled delivery date. And then, at the last possible moment, we received some feedback from the classification society about an electrical matter that, they thought, was going to require a major structural change to the vessel.” It seemed as though the worst was going to happen, the vessel was going to be late. But then Görkem had an idea.

Filled with pride

“We planned a meeting together with representatives of the classification society. Electrical work is not really my strongest area, so I was a little nervous to share my suggestion to begin with.” And yet, it was a good thing that he did. “The classification society accepted what I had to say and we were able to deliver the vessel to the client on time. It gave me a lot of satisfaction, and the congratulations I received from my colleagues after the meeting filled me with pride.”

Team spirit

At the end of the day, Görkem says, he is able to face any challenge that arises with confidence thanks to the team spirit at Damen. “To use a sporting phrase, we stand shoulder to shoulder. Whether it’s colleagues in the Netherlands or here in Türkiye, it makes no difference, we’re all aware that whatever we are building, it’s a team effort.”

The right address

Having enjoyed such a positive experience himself, what advice would Görkem offer to anyone considering a career at Damen? “Oh, that’s simple,” he says. “I would tell them, ‘you’re at the right address’.”