Winners announced Maritime Awards Gala 2023!
On Monday, 6 November, the Dutch maritime sector once again showed that renewal and innovation are the lifeblood of the industry. At the Maritime Awards Gala in Rotterdam, five winners each received their awards, with feasibility, innovation, sustainability, (maritime) safety and social contribution being the main criteria.
Maritime Talent Award
Kalea Holkema, who investigated wave damping possibilities to apply in a slot in a floating structure, such as the Pioneering Spirit, the world’s largest offshore construction ship.
For Allseas Engineering and TU Delft, Holkema, Msc., investigated how a type of breakwater can be applied in slot in a floating structure such as the ship the Pioneering Spirit. This breakwater prevents strong water jets resulting from straight incoming waves causing damage to structures in the slot.
Maritime Achievement Award
Merchant Shipping Database (Databank Koopvaardij). The purpose of this database is to raise social awareness about Dutch wartime history and especially the role of seafarers during wartime merchant shipping.
The introduction of the Merchant Shipping Database concerns an original initiative. The database draws attention in an interactive and educational manner, attention to a maritime-specific and underexposed war history for the purpose of raising social awareness about the role of seafarers on the merchant marine in wartime.
Maritime Security Award
Pim van de Koppel, who conducted research on the deployment of weapon system PHAROS-DART, which defends naval vessels against threats such as anti-ship missiles at very close range.
PHAROS-DART is a Close-in Weapon System (CIWS) designed to defend naval vessels against threats such as anti-ship missiles at very close range. DART is a guided projectile fired from a 76 mm cannon. The PHAROS radar uses a guidance beam to guide DART towards the target. In this study, LTZ3 Pim van de Koppel, for his studies at the Netherlands Defence Academy (NLDA), investigated the use of PHAROS-DART against threats above maximum gun elevation.
Maritime Innovation Award
GustoMSC with the world’s largest telescopic offshore heavy lift crane.
GustoMSC’s unique and innovative telescopic offshore lifting crane provides the solution for installing future generations of offshore wind turbines and foundations. Rapid developments in offshore wind require extreme lifting heights of >160 metres for turbine components and extreme loads of >2000 tonnes for foundation installation. The telescopic offshore crane provides both with an innovative extendable lattice boom.
Ship of the Year Award
The Canopée, a dual-powered open top RoRo vessel with wind-assisted ship propulsion built by Neptune Shipyards. It is an open top RoRo vessel intended to transport parts and fuel for Ariane rockets from France to French Guyana.
The ship replaces two vessels that now perform the same tasks and, partly because of this, has to meet a multitude of sometimes conflicting requirements, leading to a complex design challenge.
To achieve the intended speed efficiently, a unique hull shape has been developed. In addition, the Canopée features wind-assisted propulsion by four Oceanwings wing sails, that should lead to a reduction in fuel consumption of about eighteen per cent during transit, based on a sailing schedule of one round trip per month.
Source: SWZ Maritime