Dutch Maritime Awards acknowledge innovation, results, collaboration, and enthusiasm
On Monday, November 3rd, the Dutch national awards for maritime innovations were
presented. The winners were honoured for their innovative, and striking contributions to the
sector.
Out of 15 nominees, a professional jury selected five winners over the past few weeks, who received
their awards in front of hundreds of people, incl. political and media representatives.
Maritime Ship of the Year Award
Royal van Lent/Feadship, MY Breakthrough
Royal van Lent/Feadship received this award for the nearly 119-meter superyacht Breakthrough. This
is the first Twin Azipod hybrid diesel/hydrogen-electric superyacht with more than 3 MWh of
fuel cell power and internal storage. Not only did the jury praise the innovation (and the regulations
developed alongside the project), they also appreciated the fact that Royal van Lent/Feadship shares
this technology with others.
Maritime Talent Award
Edwin de Hoog
Edwin de Hoog’s experimental research and newly developed computer simulations have provided
new insights and methods for optimizing the transport process of sand-water mixtures in dredging
pipelines. The jury is impressed by his ability to make a complex subject accessible to a wide
audience and to the sector.
Maritime Innovation Award
Breman Innovation, Eye Catcher
Breman Innovation developed a remote-controlled lifting aid for connecting and disconnecting
loads without human hands. According to the jury, Breman Innovation is a worthy winner, because
Eye Catcher offers a simple technical solution for remotely placing and removing loads in hard-to-
reach places without the need for human intervention. This is highly practical on locations such as
wind farms.
Maritime Achievement Award
Silvan Floor
The Lecturer of nautical subjects (Rotterdam Mainport Institute) was honoured for his dedication and
innovative teaching methods, among other things. Silvan himself says that, in addition to knowledge
development, he considers “developing the ability to continue learning independently in changing cirtcumstances” to be very important for students. According to the jury, Silvan Floor is the teacher
students will remember forever.
Maritime Security Award
Teun van Schriek
The Netherlands and Europe are increasingly facing threats on and under the sea. Teun van Schriek
from the Royal Netherlands Navy has conducted research into modernizing existing tactics to
optimize the search for submarines using AI.
The jury praises the immediate applicability of the research, which could directly lead to
improvements in the tactics of the Royal Netherlands Navy and NATO units, and can be implemented
immediately in helicopters to search for submarines.
About the Dutch Maritime Awards
The Dutch Maritime Awards is the event where innovative achievements from the maritime sector in
the Netherlands are presented each year.
During the Maritime Awards Gala, more than 900 maritime professionals and stakeholders gather to
celebrate the innovative capacity of the Dutch maritime sector together with politicians, the press, and
the nominees.
The event is organized by the Maritime Awards Gala Foundation, which includes representatives from
the sea port (BOZ), maritime technology (KNVTS), shipowner (KVNR), knowledge/scientific
(Maritiem Kenniscentrum), maritime cluster (NML), pilot, manufacturing and shipbuilding
communities, as well as the RNLN.