The KNVTS jury has elected fishing vessel MDV 1 Immanuel as the Ship of the Year 2016.
The winner was announced, under loud cheers, at the Maritime Awards Gala, which took place 31 October at Studio 21 in Hilversum, the Netherlands.
MDV 1 Immanuel
Fishing Vessel MDV 1 Immanuel was built by Hoekman Shipbuilding and Machinefabriek Padmos. The shape of the vessel, its layout, materials, contstruction, propulsion and fish processing are all innovations when compared to traditional North Sea cutters. According to the jury, the MDV 1 Immanuel embodies the entrepreneurship and innovative strength of the Dutch fishing and shipbuilding industry. In addition, the fishing vessel is an important part of the Dutch Masterplan Sustainable Fisheries (Masterplan Duurzame Visserij).
The other two nominees for this award were:
Yacht Aquijo – designed and built by Oceanco in Alblasserdam and Vitters Shipyard in Zwartsluis.
Yacht Savannah – designed and built by Feadship/Royal de Vries Shipbuilding BV in Aalsmeer.
'Beating the Yacht Builders'
Awards Gala presenter Jort Kelder was most impressed by the multi-million euro yachts and told the fishermen to take pride in the fact that they had beaten the yacht builders with a 'simple' fishing boat. The Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, however, selected precisely the MDV 1 Immanuel in his opening speech as an example of what being frontrunners is all about (without prior knowledge of the winner of course).
Picture by Flying Focus.
