Alewijnse Marine Systems’ Nico van der Hoeven wins prestigious

On Wednesday 10th of November the fifth edition of the Maritime Awards Gala took
place at the Amsterdam Convention Factory. The audience was filled with top
managers from across the Dutch maritime industry as well as government delegates,
politicians and members of the press. At the event, the prestigious VNSI Timmers
Award 2010 for young maritime designers was awarded to Nico van der Hoeven from
Alewijnse Marine Technology B.V. based at Nijmegen in the Netherlands. To
enthusiastic applause Nico accepted the award and the cheque that went with it from
Ms Karla Peijs, Royal Commissioner for the province of Zeeland.

Nico works as a systems engineer within Alewijnse Marine Systems for the company’s
dedicated research and development department Alewijnse Marine Technology B.V., and
was nominated during the Designers Congress held in June this year at the Ship Simulator
Centre of STC Rotterdam for his exceptional work and display of technical skill on the
development of the automation system for the ground-breaking fuel cell boat project.

Called H2 Nemo, the fuel cell boat is a canal trip vessel capable of carrying 90 passengers
and built for the Lovers Shipping Company. It is now operational on the waterways of
Amsterdam and is powered entirely by hydrogen. The hydrogen is converted by fuel cells
into electricity which is then used to power the motors, making the boat entirely emissions
free. For optimal efficiency the boat requires a sophisticated monitoring and automation
system to manage the fuel consumption and cooling, and alert the captain should any issues
arise. It is for his work on this project that Nico received the VNSI Timmers Award 2010.