First Maritime Technology Day a Success (The Netherlands)

Business & Finance

On 24 June 2010, European experts from the dredging sector and other related industries met in Rotterdam during the first Maritime Technology Day, organised by the Dredging Networking Group. The seminar’s central theme was Condition Monitoring. Prominent speakers such as Prof. Dr. Cees van Rhee from TU Delft; Govert Hamers, President of IHC Merwede; Piet Snaphaan & Frans Paardekooper from DNV; Laurens Stigter from IHC Parts & Services; Wim Boertjes from Pruftechnik; Wim Zanen from Bakker Sliedrecht and Simon Han Burgmans and Wilko Visser from Van Oord took the stage. They gave their perspective on the central theme of Condition Monitoring and were able to stimulate lively discussions amongst the participants.

More and more consideration is being given to reducing the total cost of ownership in the dredging sector. This can be concluded in the wake of the first Maritime Technology Day. The challenge lies mostly in generating more income for dredging companies as a whole. This is possible through larger investments in a company’s technical operations. The increase in operational availability that this creates generates a large amount of extra income. It is also clear that cooperation between suppliers and dredging companies can reinforce the trend; diverse technical solutions can assist in making dredging operations and the associated use of dredging equipment more predictable, which in turn helps to prevent unexpected disruptions or to realise the timely application of replacement materials. It is especially the integration of the knowledge of design and construction, as well as a bundling of technical user experiences, which seems to offer unique possibilities for optimisation. The expectation is also that the maintenance processes can be optimised and even certified, which would make further economisation possible.

Under the guidance of Prof. Dr. Cees van Rhee, professor of dredging engineering at TU Delft, approx. 80 European experts from various dredging companies, dredging and non-dredging related suppliers, classification bureaus and scientists examined the diverse aspects of Condition Monitoring. The Scheepvaart en Transport College (College of Shipping and Transport) in Rotterdam provided not only a fitting setting for the interesting presentations, discussion groups and diverse informal talks, but for dinner as well. The presentations and an account of the entire Maritime Technology Day are available from www.dredgenetgroup.com.

The first Maritime Technology Day was a success, due in part to the excellent contributions from the various speakers, but especially because of the diversity of the participants. It was not attended exclusively by representatives from dredging related companies, other industries, where Condition Monitoring as related to maintaining installations is already an established practice, took part as well.

The organiser, the Dredging Networking Group, is already on the look-out for new subjects to feature at future Maritime Technology Days to keep the discussion surrounding the further reduction of the Total Cost of Ownership of dredging vessels alive.

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Source: Dredging Networking Group, July 8, 2010