For seventeen years, since June 2006, our fellow editor Gerrit de Boer made his column Maritime Monthly (Maand Maritiem) for every issue of SWZ|Maritime, listing all orders for, launches at and deliveries from our Dutch shipyards. But all good things come to an end and so this June edition’s Maritime Monthly will be the last of a long series of 188 issues.
Making SWZ|Maritime every month is a race against the deadline. For many, it means a lot of stress every time and so it is a job only suitable for the hardiest among us. But one day, even for the strongest among maritime publicists, it comes to an end and it is time to change tack. It does not mean a final farewell, as our highly esteemed colleague will remain a member of the editorial board, but he will shift his attention to other articles such as ship descriptions and articles about shipyards, shipping companies and design firms.
Incidentally, this June issue also features another important publication by Gerrit de Boer, the annual overview of Dutch shipbuilding. With a series of photos and short descriptions of remarkable ships and, as an illustration, a map of the Netherlands showing almost all Dutch shipyards that delivered one or more ships last year. A unique overview which takes a lot of work to produce every year.
Also read: SWZ|Maritime’s May 2023 navy special: New fleet for the Royal Netherlands Navy
Semi-professional organisation
Whether the same will happen again next year is up to Gerrit de Boer. Readers of SWZ|Maritime should bear in mind that the editorial team is a semi-professional organisation in which many people collaborate for only a small fee. Only our unsurpassed copy editor Mariska Buitendijk is employed by our publishing partner MyBusinessMedia. As a self-employed person, the editor-in-chief gets a decent compensation that he is very happy with.
The fact that editors, staff and board members still dedicate themselves to SWZ|Maritime with a lot of passion, deserves a lot of respect and appreciation. They often do this work after a long career in the maritime sector. For some of us, old age begins to gnaw at the good will that is always there, but at some point it will come to an end.
Also read: SWZ|Maritime’s April 2023 inland navigation special: Every little counts…
Contributions welcome
People with a maritime background who like to think along with fellow professionals, and perhaps even like to write a piece themselves, are therefore always welcome. Anyone interested in contributing to SWZ|Maritime can always contact the editor-in-chief, Antoon Oosting through swz.rotterdam@knvts.nl.
This is editor-in-chief Antoon Oosting’s editorial accompanying the June 2023 issue.
Also read: SWZ|Maritime’s March 2023 issue: The energy transition depends on the engineers
SWZ Archive
Our digital archive is once again available to subscribers and they can read the digitial version of our June issue there. Subscribers can register here to gain access. Not yet a subscriber? Visit our subscription page.
Also read: SWZ|Maritime’s February 2023 issue: Nothing beats Groningen in shipbuilding
The articles in SWZ|Maritime’s June issue
In addition to the regular sections such as Dutch news, Markets, Maritime monthly, Global news, Book reviews, news from the KNVTS and Mars Report, the articles (some in Dutch) in the June issue are:
- Europe’s large shipbuilding in dire straits
- Dutch shipbuilding industry in 2022
- Eerste binnenvaartschip op groene waterstof
- News from International Shipbuilding Progress
- Zr.Ms. Johan de Witt onderhanden genomen
- Maritiem onderwijs staat voor grote uitdagingen
- Sail training ships: two different concepts
Picture: The future-proof research vessel Prinsesse Ingrid Alexandra was built by Holland Shipyards, Hardinxveld, for account of Havforskningsinstituttet (the Norwegian Institute for Maritime Research), Tromsø. This versatile vessel is prepared for possible future installation of a battery bank for fully-electric propulsion (photo Uavpic, Norway).
