In this September edition, we have a lot of coverage of superyachts and superdrones, among others, along with a host of other no less interesting topics. Our youngest editorial board member Bas Lenferink did an excellent job as coordinator for this superyacht special.
The article by Bas himself on the design process at superyacht builder Oceanco deserves special attention; we had already had the Feadship one. Also noteworthy is LR’s Engel Jan de Boer’s article on the possibilities of nuclear propulsion for superyachts. Thanks to Bas, we can offer another series of interesting articles on this very important part of the Dutch maritime sector.
Also read: SWZ|Maritime’s July-August 2024 issue: Germany, a good client for Dutch shipbuilding
Not to be sneezed at
Although some may be annoyed by the lavish luxury of superyachts, it is worth remembering that many in the Netherlands make a good living out of it. They should be proud of their craftsmanship and innovative capacity. Everyone can criticise Bezos’ way of doing business, but who has never ordered anything from Amazon? And if you can’t beat them, it is still nice to at least make some money from the richest of the rich.
In the report on the annual figures for 2023 of industry organisation Netherlands Maritime Technology in the June issue, colleague Gerrit de Boer points out that Dutch superyacht building is nicely in third place, after Italy and Turkey, when it comes to the number of completed superyachts (over 24 metres in length).
The nineteen completed yachts earned the Netherlands almost € 1.3 billion. Good to know that there are another 64 superyachts in the order books with a value of € 6.65 billion in addition to the eleven being built on speculation, the value of which cannot yet be recorded, but should be close to another € 1 billion. That’s not to be sneezed at.
Also read: SWZ|Maritime: A June edition featuring the 2023 annual review
Changing naval warfare
Perhaps not as pretty, but incredibly exciting and maybe very important for the preservation of our freedom is the development of the maritime drones, or just superdrones, that the Ukrainians have developed to strike back at Russia, practically crippling the Russian Black Sea fleet in the process.
Under the title “Magura; a story of victory through innovation”, our contributor Rui Costa has written an extremely interesting article on the subject. Interesting because, following the Ukrainian successes, all the world’s navies are rethinking what this means for their own fleet renewal programmes. After all, what good are outdated large surface ships if swarms of small maritime drones can take them out effectively.
In short, plenty of interesting articles in this September issue that are definitely worth reading.
This is editor-in-chief Antoon Oosting’s editorial accompanying the September 2024 issue.
Also read: SWZ|Maritime’s May 2024 issue: It’s good to be nice to your neighbours
SWZ app and archive
Our digital archive is available to subscribers both online and in our new app (available for Android and Iphone) and they can read the digitial version of our September issue there. Subscribers can register here to gain access. Not yet a subscriber? Visit our subscription page.
Also read: SWZ|Maritime’s April 2024 issue: Innovative inland navigation
The articles in SWZ|Maritime’s July-August issue
In addition to the regular sections such as Dutch news, Markets, Global news, news from the KNVTS and Mars Report, the articles in the July-August issue are:
- Of course it fits!
- From dreams to reality
- Hydrofoil technology and hydrodynamic research
- Nuclear fuel for yachts
- HISWA Symposium 2024
- Damping vibrations on board superyachts
- Magura: A story of victory through innovation
- The ins and outs of Li-ion batteries
- Using AI to predict offshore vessel workability
- Nieuwe uitgaven
- Artificial islands: big risks, big payoffs
- Learnings from DEME’s LNG dredger Scheldt River
Picture: The Bravo Eugenia in dock at Oceanco. Yacht design is often about pushing the envelope with evolving technology widening the options (photo by Oceanco, cover picture of SWZ|Maritime’s September 2024 issue).
Also read: SWZ|Maritime’s March 2024 issue: Ports, dredging, and strategy
