After having been director of CARIS Geographic Information Systems BV, also known under its trade name CARIS EMEA, since its incorporation in 1994, Hans van Opstal decided to officially retire from the board of directors of the company from the 1st of July 2015.

Hans van Opstal laid the foundation of CARIS EMEA in the early nineties after his retirement from the Royal Netherlands Navy as National Hydrographer. Since those early days he has shown a strong personal commitment to CARIS, and with his first class knowledge of nautical cartography and hydrography he has been instrumental in the success of CARIS in the EMEA region and worldwide.

Under his (co)directorship CARIS EMEA grew from a small setup to a company with over 20 employees, providing specialized services for the marine GIS market in EMEA from its new office in ‘s-Hertogenbosch in The Netherlands.

Dr. Mark Masry will be added to the Board of Directors of CARIS EMEA, and Mr. Geerten Blessing will remain the managing director.