Mark Rijsdijk

Mark Rijsdijk joined IRI’s Roosendaal office in 2009 as a Flag State Inspector, was promoted to Safety & Technical Manager in January 2013, and in June 2021 was promoted to a Senior Specialist, Cargoes. Mr. Rijsdijk began his career as a dual-licensed maritime officer in Rotterdam, sailing on LPG carriers specifically designed to navigate the open sea as well as inland waterways of The Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. In order to work on these specialized vessels, Mr. Rijsdijk was required to attain several safety and operational certifications including IMO-gas, ADNR-gas, and an Inland Waters license. During the nine years he worked on LPG carriers, Mr. Rijsdijk rose through the engineering and officer ranks, ultimately being appointed Chief Officer for the last four years of his career at sea. After sailing, Mr. Rijsdijk became Shift Team Leader / Loading Master at Euro Tank Terminal, a position focused on terminal operations safety and compliance. Immediately prior to joining IRI, Mr. Rijsdijk was employed by Lloyd’s Register Rotterdam in their Devolved Classification Executive department. This department served as liaison between several flag States, provided clients with technical and regulatory support, prepared dispensation requests, and supported surveyors in the field. For the past five years and through present, Mr. Rijsdijk has acted as chairman for the IMO’s Harmonized System of Survey and Certification (HSSC) working group which provides the survey items for the RO’s on the regulations developed by the IMO. He has been an active participant in all cargo related meetings and working groups within the IMO such as the Sub-Committees on Carriage of Cargoes and Containers (CCC) and Pollution Prevention Response (PPR), and part of the Editorial and Technical (E&T) group for the International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) and International Maritime Solid Bulk Cargoes (IMSBC) Codes. He has also been part of the Evaluation of Safety and Pollution Hazard of Chemicals (ESPH) working group which put forward the 2021 revisions to the International Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Dangerous Chemicals in Bulk (IBC Code). Mr. Rijsdijk earned his Maritime Officer diploma from Scheepvaart en Transport College (STC) in Rotterdam and has completed an IMDG specialist course.