Van Ameyde Marine Senior Surveyor Receives Gold Medal of Merit



We are proud to share that Senior Surveyor, Kari Laakso, has been awarded the Gold Medal of Merit for Thirty years' service of employment with Van Ameyde Marine, formerly Lars Krogius.
The Finland Chamber of Commerce offers a way to reward employees for their excellence - this is a tradition that's been around since 1929 and we have followed this tradition. This tradition is The Medal of Merit. We can apply for the medal of merit for staff members who have worked for 10 years or more for the same employer or as an independent entrepreneur, or for holding a long-term position of trust. The medal acknowledges valued experience and skills, trust and honesty.
Kari joined the company as a surveyor in 1989, specialising in fruit and vegetable surveys, perishables and frozen goods. As a Senior Surveyor, the majority of instructions that Kari receives are relating to damaged cargo. Kari studied at the Institute of International Container Lessors as a cargo container inspector, as well as the Lloyd's Cargo Surveyor's examination.
As a marine surveyor, Kari explains that the role requires him to be "reactive at all hours of the day, acting quickly when an instruction is received". At times, Kari needs to be in eight different places at once, particularly when instructions often lead to a round trip of over five hours in a single day. Currently, Kari works closely with two other experienced colleagues who are dealing with P&I and H&M. Kari reflected on his years with the company and noted that Managing Director Hanna Kivelä is inspirational for all colleagues across the Nordics, Baltics and Ukraine, doing a great job supporting colleagues and bringing the team together.

In the last 30 years with the company, Kari has many positive memories, from gatherings with colleagues, to networking and attending seminars. Kari also has memories of many jobs that he has been on over the years, some fairly easy and straight forward, whilst others not so much. One case that stands out to Kari in particular involved a very early start at 02:00am to reports of a container floating in the sea at the Port of Hamina, still attached to a mobile crane by chains. There had been a miscalculation on the weight that the crane could handle, leading to the collapse and the container ending up in the sea. To add a further issue, there was a hole in the roof of the container and Kari, along with the stevedores, had to go and check the container which contained paper. The waves were not too heavy in the harbour, Kari recalled how he had been warned by his wife to not risk his life, but he had insisted that he would be fine and still “needed the image to show the container damage, which was half full with water”. The container was finally lifted from the sea with the help of a much larger crane. The seams between the container walls and floor were leaking heavily, with the end result being a total loss of the cargo.