‘The end goal is clear’, states Pépé Becx. As team manager of the TU Delft Hydro Motion Team, this goal is, of course, obvious: helping her team of 26 students to come out on top at the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge. She kicks off our editor Bas Lenferink’s brand new feature series, dubbed “Engineering the future fleet”.
Being part of the student team building the foiling liquid hydrogen-powered boat is not only about putting your technical or organisational skills to the test. At least not for Pépé. She likes to see industry becoming more sustainable. Don’t we all? There is one remark she makes that says it all, really: ‘If we can achieve our goals in one year as a student team, imagine what the industry can achieve’.
Is that what some, commenting on an upcoming future generation, would refer to as being naïve? Is it about being a realist rather than an optimist, as some of these commentators like to call themselves? Or are they just those proverbial “old grey men” who have lost their dreams along the corporate road?
Also read: SWZ|Maritime’s February 2026 issue: Designing the digital maritime future
Going beyond repair
Pépé’s remark is something, I think, the industry and all involved should at least aim for: living up to her and her generation’s expectations. Or at least trying. One company making an effort is AEGIR-Marine – which is, of course, just my conviction after having finished talking with chief commercial officer Paul GrizelI about the company’s remanufacturing project.
Going beyond mere repair, the company is bringing a second-hand bow thruster back to its off-the-shelf condition. Adding this extra chapter to the product lifecycle isn’t only about lowering CO2 emissions. It is about preventing valuable materials from being discarded and sold for scrap – in complete disregard of their intrinsic value. Something worth remembering for a country like ours, with its limited natural resources. As Paul puts it: ‘Our only raw material is waste.’ And once again, we are now reminded of what that means for our daily lives.
This morning, a small article in my local newspaper caught my eye. Listeners of Dutch radio station Radio Veronica have voted “Imagine” by John Lennon the most hopeful song of all time. The song ranks first in the special (S)Top 520. This chart concludes the radio station’s action week for War Child. The number 520? It represents the 520 million children growing up in war zones and conflict areas. Imagine.
This is editor-in-chief Robin Zander’s editorial accompanying the March 2026 issue.
Also read: SWZ|Maritime’s January 2026 issue: Know how
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 March issue there. Not yet a subscriber? Visit our subscription page.
Also read: SWZ|Maritime’s December 2025 issue: Resolutions & fuel for thought
The articles in SWZ|Maritime’s March issue
In addition to the regular sections such as Dutch news, Global news, Markets, book reviews and Mars Report, the March issue features a special on digitalisation as well as other articles. They are:
- Engineering the future fleet: Liquid hydrogen as the fuel of choice
- Ship in detail: Anna Weber-van Bosse
- As good as new – again
- Carbon Destroyer 1
- Life extension of offshore assets
- Smart maintenance strategy
- Improved standards for speed/power trials
- Maritime Experience Lab (MXLAB) at MARIN
- Green corridors
- CEDA – Rising to the EU MRV challenge
- CEDA – Dredging drives the energy transition at Ardersier
Picture: AEGIR-Marine is a specialist in repair and maintenance, but is now going a step further with remanufacturing, bringing thrusters back to their new and off-the-shelf condition (photo AEGIR-Marine, cover picture of the March 2026 issue).
Also read: SWZ|Maritime’s November 2025 issue: Roaring twenties
