![International Bulk Journal](https://www.ibj-online.com/images/international-bulk-journal.png)
![Menu](https://www.ibj-online.com/images/showmobnav-bg.png)
(Posted on 31/01/19)
On 28th January 2019, Cora van Nieuwenhuizen, Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management, visited Rotterdam to meet Damen Shipyards Group and other Dutch maritime industry leaders.
Minister Van Nieuwenhuizen heard presentations from Damen, Van Oord and other key representatives of the country’s thriving maritime industry.
The presentations took place on a Damen vessel, FCS 2610, which transported the minister, officials and maritime industry representatives from the head office of Hatenboer-Water in Schiedam, along the Nieuwe Maas, to the head office of Van Oord in Rotterdam.
Damen Shipyards Group operates 35 shipbuilding and repair yards, employing 12,000 people worldwide. The company has delivered more than 6,000 vessels in more than 100 countries and delivers some 160 vessels annually to customers worldwide.
René Berkvens, CEO of the Damen Group, said, “We were happy to welcome Minister Van Nieuwenhuizen to Rotterdam today, and we appreciate her continued interest in, and strong support of, our maritime sector. Face-to-face meetings like this help to inform the government policies, programmes, regulations and infrastructure changes needed to foster new technologies and business growth.”
Three industry leaders gave the minister presentations on innovations and developments in: maritime technology (speaker Bas Buchner, President, Maritime Research Institute Netherlands); water technology (speaker Willem Buijs, CEO of Hatenboer-Water); and delta technology (speaker Hendrik Postma, Chairman of the Association of Marine Contractors).
Other participants contributed to the themes of ‘clean’, ‘smart’ and ‘safe’. These were respectively: speaker Peter Paul van Voorst, Founder of Skoon Energy; speaker Toine Cleophas, Manager Research at Damen Shipyards Group; and four students from Delft University of Technology, who demonstrated new emergency flotation and stability devices.
Particular topics included ‘better ships, cleaner oceans’, private-public partnerships, autonomous shipping, electric shipping, digitalisation, and ship management mobile apps.
The maritime sector is part of the top sector ‘Water and Maritime’ – one of the Government’s nine priority, high growth, export-oriented sectors of the economy. The Netherlands has long been a world leader in maritime engineering and water management, which encompass activities such as shipbuilding, hydraulic engineering, waterway engineering, land reclamation, dredging, flood protection, water treatment, and energy generation.
INTERCARGO, the association of dry bulk shipping companies, has released the following statement:&ldquo... Read more
ITOCHU Corporation, ClassNK, Nihon Shipyard Co., Ltd., and Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (... Read more
The Women's International Shipping & Trading Association UK (WISTA UK) marked its 50th anniversary... Read more
Accidents onboard ships are not decreasing, according to latest accident statistics submitted to the... Read more
Solutions must be in place to help ship owners with navigating the complex challenges of complying with... Read more
Diversity and nurturing talent is high on the agenda for BCS Group – Boers Crew Services as it... Read more
With discussions regarding the IMO’s (International Maritime Organization) Carbon Intensity Indicator... Read more
The Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers (ICS), the professional body for the commercial shipping industry... Read more
Columbia Group and Crowley have signed a strategic cooperation agreement that broadens both companies... Read more
The 2024 edition of The Future of Maritime Safety Report from Inmarsat Maritime, a Viasat company, reveals... Read more