Founder of Dutch-based marine company dies

Posted on 22 August 2008

Willem H. den Ouden, founding father of Vetus, the Dutch manufacturers of marine engines and technical boat equipment, passed away last week in his home in France after a short illness. He was 73.

“Willem den Ouden was a man of large stature and Vetus owes him for his vision and his boundless energy,” the Netherlands-based company said in a statement posted on its Web site.

Vetus was founded by den Ouden in 1964. He sold the company to AlpInvest in 1999, but maintained a minority interest in the company for several years. In 2005, he founded Willdo, a Geldermalsen, Netherlands-based company that specializes in pump-out stations and other equipment for marinas.