Mr Leendert Bal is as of 1 January 2020 Head of Department Safety, Security and Surveillance.

This Department is dealing with ship safety, accident investigation, marine equipment, Port State Control, Flag State Implementation, Equasis, MASS – autonomous ships, Places of Refuge, maritime security (incl. ISPS Code), cybersecurity; and maritime surveillance: satellite earth observation, CleanSeaNet, Copernicus Maritime Surveillance Service, RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems) services, RPAS emission and pollution monitoring, satellite communication and satellite AIS.

Between 2009 and 2019 he was Head of Department Operations. This Department covered maritime information services to Member States and EU bodies and operational assistance for pollution monitoring and response. He was Acting Executive Director of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) from 1 December 2011 till 1 September 2012.

He started working for EMSA in 2004 as a policy adviser of the Executive Director, and has been involved within the Agency, as Head of Unit, in developing operational projects such as the network of stand-by Oil Recovery Vessels, the European satellite oil spill monitoring and detection service CleanSeaNet and the EU LRIT Data Centre since their very beginning. He was part of the ESA-EMSA initiative to create a SAT-AIS capability for Europe.

He was previously Transport Attaché in Brussels for the Permanent Representation of The Netherlands to the European Union and has been working for the Dutch Ministry of Transport and Public Works, the Netherlands Institute of International Relations “Clingendael” and the Utrecht University.