A typical Dutch proverb is: ‘He who does not honour small things, is not worthy of the great’. This could be the motto of this year’s election of the Ship of the Year with three relatively small vessels, the water-injection dredger Rijn, the sailing yacht Sarissa and the ferry Gorinchem XII. But then consider that unsurpassed shipbuilder from Gorinchem in the person of Kommer Damen, who became very big precisely by building smaller ships. And also think of the brave Ukrainians who made history with their small unmanned sea drones that blasted the Russian Black Sea fleet off the water.
So small does not necessarily mean less valuable, it can also be the prelude to bigger projects. This also applies to the smaller ships nominated now, which with their inventiveness and great capabilities can serve as an example of what Dutch shipbuilding is capable of. So read all the nominations carefully because who knows where they will lead.
Also read: SWZ|Maritime’s September 2024 issue: Superyachts and superdrones
Where to build new naval vessels?
And then there is the question of where soon all those new ships for a completely renewed fleet for the Royal Netherlands Navy will be built. Apart from the orders for the large warships like the frigates, which will obviously go to Damen Naval, there will undoubtedly be plenty left over for other shipbuilders in the Netherlands.
Incidentally, depending on the course of the Russian-Ukrainian war, it will be questionable whether those naval ships can still be built safely at the Damen shipyard in Galati, Romania. Perhaps these should (partially) be built in the Netherlands itself?
In any case, the slipways suitable for this purpose should now be reserved and not earmarked for housing development. With the rejection by the state and province of the city of Amsterdam’s housing plan on the Damen Shiprepair site in Amsterdam, the state is at least showing that it is taking shipbuilding in the Netherlands seriously again.
Also read: SWZ|Maritime’s July-August 2024 issue: Germany, a good client for Dutch shipbuilding
Maritime Awards
As ever, the October edition of SWZ|Maritime, in addition to the jury reports for the KNVTS’ Ship of the Year Award 2024, also offers the complete overview of all nominees of the other four Maritime Awards: the Maritime Talent Award, Maritime Innovation Award, Maritime Achievement Award and Maritime Security Award. In addition, this issue offers lots of other articles and shipbuilding-related news worth reading. As editor-in-chief, I therefore warmly recommend this October issue.
This is editor-in-chief Antoon Oosting’s editorial accompanying the October 2024 issue.
Also read: SWZ|Maritime: A June edition featuring the 2023 annual review
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 May 2024 issue: It’s good to be nice to your neighbours
The articles in SWZ|Maritime’s October issue
In addition to the regular sections such as Dutch news, Markets, Global news, book reviews, news from the KNVTS and Mars Report, the articles in the October issue are:
- Ship of the Year nominees set new standards
- Maritieme talenten lopen voor de markt uit
- Internationaal toonaangevend
- Waardering sleutelwoord by Achievement Award
- Oplossingen voor de dreigingen van nu
- Naar een weerbare en veerkrachtige samenleving
- How deep learning can detect location tampering
- Monster waves far exceed known limits
- Hoe het staal in schepen groener kan (en moet)
- How many, and how green?
- Transforming Rotterdam’s former harbour basins
Picture: Damen Shiprepair Amsterdam stays, housing development halted. It shows that shipbuilding is now considered as being of strategic importance (photo Damen Shipyards, cover picture of SWZ|Maritime’s October 2024 issue).
Also read: SWZ|Maritime’s April 2024 issue: Innovative inland navigation
