Marc Stordiau (77), former CEO of dredging firm Deme and port company Rent-a-Port, and a former Member of the Board of the Flanders China Chamber of Commerce (FCCC) has passed away on December 2, 2023 after a short illness. Flanders thereby lost one of its main executives who put the Flemish dredging sector on the world map. Mr Stordiau also laid the groundwork for the expansion of Deme in environmental services and wind energy.
Deme is one of the two largest Flemish dredging companies next to Jan De Nul. Mr Stordiau supported the merger of De Cloedt with Dredging International to establish Deme, but fought to prevent Deme from merging with HBG from the Netherlands even as Ackermans & van Haaren (AvH) β a Deme stockholder β favored such a merger. Mr Stordiau was one of the pioneers in the development of wind energy at sea and was involved in investments in the first wind turbines along the Belgian coast.
Mr Stordiau continued to work even after he passed the top post at Deme to his successor Alain Bernard. His energy seemed almost inexhaustible and he was concerned about the wellbeing of his collaborators. Following his carreer at Deme he was involved in Rent a Port, a company working on improving port services and infrastructure in countries including Vietnam. He was also involved in gas exploration in Qatar and Oman, the newspaper De Standaard reports.
