Sander Schakelaar, born in 1970, graduated as a naval architect before widening his scope with a study in Business Administration. His professional career began in 1994 at Conoship International as a market researcher. From 1995 to 1999, he was responsible for the marketing and sales of merchant vessels built by this shipyard group, primarily to the German market. His interest in the shipping industry motivated him to move from building to owning ships, initially as managing director of a colleague ship-owning company, and since 2000 as one of the two managing owners of the JR Shipping Group.