About Normatory

Normatory is an independent maritime publication founded by Raymond van Berkel.

I spent 35 years in maritime operations. Deckhand. Mate. Liquid cargo inspector at Saybolt. Bunker surveyor at DNV across Rotterdam, Hamburg, Antwerp, Southampton. Now terminals at VaroPreem.

In all that time, I never met a shipowner who didn't have a clear sense of what he stood for. The philosophy was there. In how he ran his vessels, the people he kept, the contracts he walked away from.

What most owners lack is not a philosophy. It was built over years of operations. Relationships forged in difficult conditions. Decisions made at odd times during a day, while operations got delayed and the client was waiting, with no manual to consult. Only experience, judgment, and a sense of how things should be done.

What they lack is a way to put that into words that travel.

That is the gap Normatory works in.

The Narrative Culture is a weekly letter for maritime founders who have built something real and want their story to travel as far as their ships do.

→ [Connect on LinkedIn](linkedin.com/in/rayvberkel)