Collaboration and innovation rewarded

On Thursday evening 31 October the eighth edition of the prestigious Maritime Awards Gala took place in the Broodfabriek, Rijswijk, the Netherlands. 900 maritime professionals gathered for the presentation of the KVNR Shipping Award, the KNVTS Ship of the Year Award, the first edition of the Van Hengel-Spengler Award of the Royal Netherlands Navy, the VNSI Wim Timmers Award and the HME Maritime Innovation Award.

In addition to the five awards the Young Maritime Representative, or better Representatives, were announced by Arie Kraaijeveld, chairman of network organisation Maritime by Holland. Although the goal was to choose one young delegate, the selection committee was as impressed with both Michelle van der Wees and Coen Bouhuys who have been appointed to represent the maritime sector. Both Van der Wees and Bouhuys will be spokesperson for the maritime industry in 2014, hoping to introduce more young people to this industry.

Pim van Gulpen, president of the Foundation Maritime Awards, opened the evening which also marked the kick-off of the Maritime Week. According to Van Gulpen the various judges did not have an easy task, thanks to the high quality of the entries. He also stressed the importance of innovation and cooperation, which he believes will increase the Dutch opportunities in the world.

Maritime Holland

According to Tineke Netelenbos, chairwoman of the jury of the KVNR Shipping Award, innovation is embedded in the Dutch genes: ”The Netherlands has been a maritime country for centuries. With five nominees for this award in 2013 the Dutch ship owners show that they also want clean and efficient shipping, even in difficult economic times.” Every year, the award goes to the company that developed the best product or process innovation in the past year. The winner of the KVNR Shipping Award was unanimously elected thanks to its innovative and environmentally friendly construction.

It was the Aegir owned by Heerema Marine Contractors that took the prize home. The Aegir can lay pipes in ultra deep water in two ways, combined with heavy lifting and construction. The vessel weighs 50,000 tons and is equipped with a crane that can lift up to 4,000 tons and can lower loads to 3,500 metres below the water. Other nominees were Flinter Management, Borchard Lines and PPG and their work on MV Rebecca Borchard, the Management Facilities Group, Seazip Offshore Services with catamaran crewtenders Seazip 1 and Seazip 2, and Stemat Marine and Neptune Shipyards with their crewtender Liz V.

Fortune cookie

Cooperation was one of the most important criteria for the election of the KNVTS Ship of the Year Award. President of the award Arie Peterse explained: “With all nominees there was a very close collaboration between the client and the builder, which leads to a unique ship.” In order to be selected for the prize the nominated vessels had to be designed and built mainly in the Netherlands and had to meet the judges’ criteria of design, economy, sustain ability, safety and construction process.

Inland tanker Greenstream of Peters Shipyards met all these demands. The Greenstream is the first commercial barge that exclusively uses LNG for its propulsion system, leading to a reduction of emissions. According to the jury the vessel is a model for environmentally friendly shipping and inland shipping. The company already knew they would win. Director Geert van Voorn of Peters Shipyards: “Our goodie bag contained a fortune cookie, which told us that ‘luck is on your way’. It was.” Other nominees were Polaris by Barkmeijer Stroobos and Reimerswaal by Scheepswerf Kooiman. Earlier this year, during the Europäische Binnenschifffahrt Forum in Duisburg, Germany, the Greenstream and Peters Shipyards also received the ‘Innovationspreis Binnenschifffahrt 2013’.

The award for the Greenstream tanker was not only meaningful to Peters Shipyards, it was also a success for Alewijnse, who was responsible for the complete electrical installation on board of the vessel, including the systems that control and regulate the LNG-fuelled generators. It is also Alewijnse’s fifth maritime prize in a row.

Young maritime talent

This year the Van Hengel-Spengler Award of the Royal Netherlands Navy was awarded for the first time to a student who developed the best operational innovation. Three nominees were selected: Jordy van de Mheen, Dennis Grenda and Joris Derksen. The winner was third Lieutenant Jordy van de Mheen for his Submarine Power System Design Tool (SPSDT). This system compares (diesel-electric) submarine performances of different energy storage systems. The award was presented by Vice Admiral Matthieu Borsboom: “I am pleased with the high quality of the entries. It says a lot about where we stand as an organisation, the Van Hengel-Spengler Award is a new prize we have created to encourage quality and innovation among young talent. This idea fits perfectly in the Royal Netherlands Navy.” Van de Mheen was pleased with his prize: “It feels good to win; it is a unique opportunity to continue studying for the Navy”.

Framework

Another young talent won the VNSI Wim Timmers Award; the nominees Jan van der Zee and Roderick den Ouden were chosen during the Designers Congress in June this year. It was a thrilling competition between the two nominees since comparing the two is virtually impossible, according to Hans Hopman, chairman of the jury. He explained how they made their decision: “We set up a framework of criteria in advance, which were the degree of innovativeness, the ability to put the products in the market and the quality.”

Jan van der Zee of Conoship was the one whose design met these requirements, making him the winner of this award with his project of Collaborative Design Tools. This system cleverly uses new software capabilities, making intricate design programmes of the design process match in an early stage, which means the process can be accelerated and improved. Thus, it is possible to shorten the length of time needed for the establishment and maintenance of drawings in the listing process and critical analyses can be performed much earlier.

Useful innovations

The fifth and last prize of the evening was the HME Maritime Innovation Award, which is meant as an encouragement for projectinnovation and development. Jury president Van Gulpen was short but powerful about their key criteria: “Innovation is key: because if you do not innovate, you will not get anywhere. However, if you innovate, but do not sell your product, you will not get anywhere either.” The winner of the award was Kranendonk Production Systems BV with their Edge Preparation System. This system ensures the extremely accurate completion of steel plates and provides a solution for shipyards to meet the IMO PSPC regulations for protective coatings for ballast tanks. The other nominees were Veth Propulsion for the Hybrid Drive and Van Oossanen Naval Architects for the Hull Vane, about which you can read more on page 40 of this magazine.

According to the jury report the development of the Edge Preparation System by the nonmaritime company puts the Netherlands as an innovative shipbuilding country on the map. In addition, this development contributes to the competitiveness and innovative spirit of the Dutch maritime industry: ”Kranendonk managed to delve into the shipbuilding process in such way that they could deliver what was needed in the shipbuilding industry.” The winner of the award was pleased but surprised: ”It is an honour as a non-shipbuilder to win a shipbuilding prize.”

Anne Kregting