In the museum on the old Scheldewerf site, Delft blue anniversary plates cover the walls, commemorating 25, 40, and 50 years of service. A full career at the Royal Schelde Shipyard. That kind of commitment was once the norm here. It is rare today. For Gesa Feddersen, Client Liaison Officer, her career is on track to have its own place on the wall.

She has spent more than a decade on a large naval shipbuilding programme, from the earliest tender documents to key engineering steps. She can picture herself through the sea trials, the warranty phase, and the knowledge transfer. And, if all goes to plan, an early retirement, she jokes.

Her father once told her, “It doesn’t matter what you choose now. Your generation will change careers at least three times. Pick something you enjoy today.” Even now, she asks herself that same question: “Do I want to do this today and tomorrow? The answer is still yes.”

From Hamburg to the North Sea
She grew up in Hamburg, in a sailing family. Her best subjects in school were math and chemistry, and her first thought was to become a teacher, possibly combining it with art. That changed the day she walked into the Institute for Shipbuilding just around the corner. “They had a towing tank. I always enjoyed watching ships. I liked sailing,” she recalls, “so I thought, why not take a look?”
Compared to the crowded, impersonal open days for pure sciences, the shipbuilding programme was small and welcoming. They promised that graduates would have a job lined up before finishing their degree. She signed on.

Her path after graduation was a mix of academic and industry work: six months in Scotland, three years in a PhD programme in Germany, before moving to the Netherlands after meeting her future partner, who worked for Damen Naval already. She avoided the immediate jump of working together. “You don’t go from a long-distance relationship to being together 24/7,” she says, and spent three years at Lloyd’s Register in Rotterdam before joining Damen Naval.

Women in Shipbuilding
In her student days, women in shipbuilding were rare. Out of 23 students in her year, only two were women. During internships, some yards in Hamburg refused to take female trainees because they lacked women’s facilities. Larger yards admitted her, but the remarks were there. “In the office, it happens less,” she says. “But I’m still sometimes mistaken for a secretary. Being a woman in engineering is still unusual, especially in shipbuilding. On one hand, you have to earn your place. On the other hand, there is active recruitment, people saying, ‘Yes, we’d like a woman in the team,’ because it changes the group dynamic.”

“I also had a professor who would always check first: Are there any women in the room? Should he say, ‘Good evening, gentlemen’ or ‘Good evening, ladies and gentlemen’?” Women were the exception.

"Being a woman in engineering is still unusual, especially in shipbuilding. On one hand, you have to earn your place. On the other hand, there is active recruitment, people saying, ‘Yes, we’d like a woman in the team,’ because it changes the group dynamic.” Gesa Feddersen

Two Hats, One Project
As Client Liaison Officer for the platform, Gesa works between the German customer, engineering teams, classification societies, and some suppliers. She is fluent in German, English, and Dutch as well as in engineering. “I see where misunderstandings happen on technical, intercultural, and language levels,” she explains. Her job is to make sure nothing gets lost in translation.

She also leads the Admission to Sea Traffic team, preparing everything needed for the first voyage down the Elbe, like communications, navigation, safety and firefighting. “It’s when you first start the engine, turn the propeller, cast off the lines,” she says. “The ship won’t be fully finished, but it’s the first time it sails under its own power.”

Hurricane Season
Projects start with what she calls the storm phase, then settle. The project has been in the storm for more than three years. “This summer is hurricane season. Short and intense, then it should calm down, I hope.” The work is complex but the paperwork exacting. German regulations require every component, from a pump to an entire propulsion system, to be tested, retested, and documented. “For the ship’s technology, I’m sure we’ll deliver the best vessel the Navy has ever had”, she says. “The paperwork dragon is the other battle. It is our paper boat we’ll need to fold before it can sail.”

Future Options
This project will be the first German Navy ship to use a large-scale lithium-ion energy storage system. The batteries can support efficient operation in certain modes, but the ship can still switch to full power when required. “Compared to twenty years ago, propulsion technology has made huge leaps,” she explains. The platform is prepared for future additions, including uncrewed systems. Space, power, cooling, and air are accounted for in the baseline. Naval design ages quickly, and modular thinking keeps all the options open.

Leadership on Her Own Terms
After many years on the project, Gesa has built a depth of knowledge that is hard to replace. She is also interested in how women lead. “Women often keep more balls in the air, switch faster between priorities. Not better, just different,” she says. She follows podcasts and inspiring role models on female leadership, convinced that you don’t have to adopt a masculine style to succeed.

Her advice to young women in engineering: “Don’t doubt yourself. Don’t assume it’s your fault if something feels wrong. It might be the environment.”

For Gesa, the environment has been challenging in the best possible ways, a place where she can keep growing, define her own roles, and work with people she trusts.

Text: Rachel Nefkens

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