Seaqualize has taken home the Maritime Innovation Award for its Heave Chief 1100. This is the world’s largest and most advaced inline Active Heave Compensator, designed in the Netherlands, which enables offshore contractors to safely and efficiently hoist heavy wind turbine components.
The award was presented during the Maritime Awards Gala last night, 4 November at Studio 21 in Hilversum. Along with the Maritime Innovation Award, four other awards were presented, the Ship of the Year Award, the Maritime Security Award, the Maritime Achievement Award and the Maritime Talent Award.
Also read: Gorinchem XII declared Ship of the Year 2024
Heave Chief
Seaqualize‘s Heave Chief 1100 has a Safe Working Load of 1100 mt. This rental machine, designed and developed entirely in the Netherlands, allows heavy offshore hoisting cranes to safely lift heavy and delicate wind turbine components from supply vessels all year round, or alternatively install them afloat, on fixed but also future floating foundations.
Through clever use of an age-old technique, very heavy weights (of, say, 1 million kilos) can be fully controlled with very little power (e.g. 30 kW) can be fully controlled.
The Heave Chief 1100 enables offshore contractors to continue working safely for a greater part of the year, as loads and crane systems are much less dynamically stressed. The Heave Chief increases workability by forty to seventy per cent and offers unprecedented speed and control during offshore operations.
Also read: And the Maritime Awards nominees are…
Other nominees
In addition to Seaqualize, there were two other nominees:
- Wattlab: Wattlab has developed solar hatches, an innovative solution that seamlessly integrates solar energy into classic ship hatches. These hatches act as renewable energy generators, generating power directly for ships.
- Automooring Solutions BV: AMS developed the modular and innovative Ship-to-Ship (STS) Ropeless and Fenderless mooring system. Dangerous manual operations using conventional mooring lines have been replaced by vacuum technology, robotic arms and with artificial intelligence-based motion and position control.
The Maritime Innovation Award is presented to the most appealing maritime innovation of the past year. It may be a product, service or business process innovation. The company must be based in the Netherlands, but may belong to a foreign holding company. It concerns a Dutch innovation that was developed at least 50 per cent in the Netherlands. The innovation is market-ready and has been sold at least once to a relevant market party (in the case of process innovation, the process must have been applied at least once).
Also read: World’s largest telescopic offshore crane wins Maritime Innovation Award
Picture: The Heave Chief 1100 enables offshore contractors to work safely for a greater part of the year (photo by Seaqualize).
