Delft University Of Technology News

Earliest mid-2026, the Netherlands Coastguard will be strengthened with ENFORCER, a Damen FCS 5009 vessel. This vessel will be deployed to ensure the continuity of general coastguard duties in the North Sea. ENFORCER will provide additional support until the new generation of Coastguard ships goes into operation.The duties of the Coastguard have expanded in recent years. The Rijksrederij (the Government Fleet Agency, part of Rijkswaterstaat) has therefore issued instructions for the charter of  ENFORCER.

The International Association of Dredging Companies (IADC) bestowed the Young Author Award 2025 to Rick van de Wetering, Research Engineer at Royal IHC and Ph.D. candidate at Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands. IADC’s Young Author Award is given annually to “stimulate the promotion of new ideas and encourage younger men and women in the dredging industry." The award is granted at industry-leading conferences, with 2025’s winning young authors selected from the proceedings of the 24th WODCON Congress…

Fugro and Damen have teamed up to provide the Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN) with a surveillance vessel and operating crew. The Dutch Ministry of Defence has contracted this new partnership to enhance its marine security and surveillance capabilities. The RNLN will deploy the surveillance vessel to conduct security operations within the Netherlands’ North Sea exclusive economic zone (EEZ), both above and below the water. Using advanced technology like uncrewed vehicles, it will enable the RNLN to monitor vessel activities in the North Sea and survey critical underwater infrastructure…

Damen Shipyards has secured the first order for its Damen Air Cavity System (DACS) with the system set to be installed on a cargo vessel owned by the shipping company Amisco. Damen has developed DACS to support maritime operators in their efforts to reduce fuel consumption and emissions."DACs is an air lubrication system, borne out of a collaboration between Damen and the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft). It maintains a thin layer of air over the flat bottom of a vessel’s hull, reducing resistance in the water, thereby lowering drag and friction.

Boudewijn Siemons will become interim CEO of the Port of Rotterdam Authority effective July 15, 2023, taking the reins from Allard Castelein, who is stepping down as CEO this summer after nearly a decade in the position.Siemons, who currently serves as the port's COO, will combine both positions until a new CEO has been appointed.In addition, Vivienne de Leeuw will stay on as CFO. Her term of office has been extended by four years.Miriam Maes, chair of the Supervisory Board, said, "The process of finding a new CEO is still in progress.

Adding a flap to a Flettner rotor can lead to improved performance and significant reductions in both emissions and fuel consumption, according to a recent assessment.The study, conducted by wind-assisted ship propulsion specialist Blue Wasp Marine on behalf of the Technical University Delft (TU Delft) and the Sea Axe Fund, leveraged in-house developed Pelican software to assess the potential of a straightforward adjustment to a Flettner rotor, a vertical cylinder that spins and develop lift due to the Magnus effect.In the circumstances covered by Blue Wasp’s tests…

The Port of Rotterdam on Monday said it will help develop a 14,000 square metre factory for Battolyser Systems, a company that designs combined battery and green hydrogen production machines.Financial terms were not disclosed.The port, which has announced a series of hydrogen-related deals this year, said it views the company, a spin-off from the Delft University of Technology, as an anchor for a part of the port that will be devoted to companies helping to get carbon out of supply chains."Companies in the port are already actively working on projects regarding production…

As attention increasingly turns to ocean health and sustainability, an innovative new fish farm solution was deployed earlier this year when the De Maas’ Semi-submersible Spar Fish Farm (SSFF) became the world’s first offshore farm installed at an open ocean location exposed to tropical storms. MTR recently visited – virtually – with co-founder Philip Schreven for insight on the design and operation particulars of their innovation.How did you became involved in this unique niche of the maritime industry?Mark van Leeuwen and I founded De Maas in 2007 as an offshore oil and gas services company.

David Roodenburg is the third generation from the Roodenburg family to become CEO of the Netherlands-based equipment manufacturer Huisman.His father, Joop Roodenburg, is currently active as President after he appointed Theo Bruijninckx CEO in April 2018, with the objective to prepare the company for the next generation. Bruijninckx will remain active in Huisman in his role as the company’s CFO.Since 1980, Huisman has been owned and led by the Roodenburg family, growing from 20 employees to 2,000 to date.

NYK welcomed 35 students and their professor from the Netherlands’ Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) on July 30 to examine the group’s initiatives for “Digitalization and Green,” the theme of the company’s medium-term management plan.Prof. Mirek Kaminski of TU Delft is a leading European researcher on sloshing* and has cooperated with risk assessments conducted by MTI, an NYK Group company, into sloshing on LNG carriers.The students received lectures from NYK about its digitalization and green initiatives…

As the North American offshore wind model evolves, it is clear that fit-for-purpose, Jones Act compliant and Arctic ready tonnage will need to be part of the equation. If so, we’ve got that box checked, with a little help from Europe.As of September 2018, the Walney Extension off the United Kingdom is the largest offshore wind farm in the world at 659 megawatts. There are at least 70 major wind farms, each with hundreds of wind turbines, each generating as much as 10 megawatts in offshore England, the North Sea, Russia and China.

Netherlands Minister of infrastructure and water management Cora van Nieuwenhuizen visited Rotterdam on 28 January to meet Damen Shipyards Group and other Dutch maritime industry leaders.During the visit Minister of Nieuwenhuizen attended presentations on board a Damen ship, FCS 2610.The ship sailed from the head office of Hatenboer-Water in Schiedam, along the Nieuwe Maas, to the head office of Van Oord in Rotterdam.René Berkvens, CEO of the Damen Group, said: “We were happy to welcome Minister Van Nieuwenhuizen to Rotterdam, and we appreciate her continued interest in, and strong support of, our maritime sector. Face-to-face meetings like this help to inform the government policies…

The circular plastics hub in the Port of Amsterdam is expanding through the construction of a new plastics recycling plant. Plastic Recycling Amsterdam (PRA), a collaboration between Umincorp and Milieu Service Nederland, commenced construction of a plant this week.The Dutch port said that this plant, which can be expanded on a modular basis, will initially process 17,000 tonnes of plastics annually and prepare them to be reused.In the plant, the collected plastics are first washed, shredded and then routed through a magnetic bath. Using Magnetic Density Separation (MDS) technology, the plastics can be separated with a purity of 99% because different plastics have different weights. This technology was originally developed at Delft University of Technology.

Dutch offshore services company Fugro NV has appointed longtime employee Mark Heine as its next CEO and Chairman of the Board of Management. He succeeds Øystein Løseth, who has decided to resign after only several months in the role.Heine, who most recently served as director of Fugro's marine division, began his career at Fugro in 2000 as geodesist on various onshore and offshore survey projects. By 2002 he fulfilled several management roles in the survey division with increasing responsibilities. From 2012 he served as regional director Europe-Africa for the survey division.

Damen Shipyards Group has carried out tank testing of its 70-metre Fast Crew Supplier (FCS) 7011. The tests were carried out at the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) with a 2.8-metre long model.Intended for long distance crew transfer operations, the Damen FCS 7011 will offer the offshore oil & gas industry a safe and cost-effective alternative to helicopter flights.In developing the FCS 7011, on-board comfort has been one of Damen’s central design parameters. Consequently, the company has executed a large number of simulations to investigate seakeeping characteristics.“We have used these simulations to see which hull form gives the optimum comfort levels,” explains Albert Rijkens, Damen Product Portfolio Manager Research.

During today's Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders, Bart Heijermans was appointed to the Board of Management of Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. for a term until the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders in 2022.Heijermans will be responsible for the company’s offshore energy division, effective September 1, 2018.Heijermans brings to the board extensive experience in the offshore industry, having recently served as CEO and board member of subsea services provider DeepOcean.

Damen Shipyards Group has signed a cooperation agreement of understanding with clean energy startup Skoon Energy to further advance the energy transition underway in the shipping industry.Skoon was founded in 2017 by Daan Geldermans and Peter Paul van Voorst, two students of the Delft University of Technology. The company focusses on the large-scale electrification of ships’ propulsion via management of a battery sharing network and strategically located charging hubs with a 100 percent clean energy supply.

Damen – in cooperation with the Turkish Coast Guard, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and engine manufacturer MTU – said it has completed full scale roll-over testing of its Search and Rescue Vessel 1906 with running engines, in Antalya, Turkey. According to Damen, its SAR 1906 has been an example of technological and academic cooperation since the vessel’s conception. The design itself is the result of close collaboration between Damen and the Royal Netherlands Sea Rescue Institution (KNRM), Delft University of Technology, De Vries Lentsch Naval Architects.

Global Maritime, a provider of marine warranty, dynamic positioning and engineering services to the offshore sector, has appointed Oliver Stettner as Country Manager for Indonesia. Stettner will be tasked with growing Global Maritime’s Indonesian business as well as spearheading the company’s renewables efforts across the Asia Pacific. Stettner is an engineer who has extensive experience in hydrodynamic and structural analysis and marine warranty surveying, particularly in the offshore wind industry.

The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) has confirmed the appointment of Mark Heine to its governing board. Heine is a senior executive with Fugro.   Heine is a member of the Management Board of Fugro and is the Director of the Marine Division. He has been with Fugro since 2000, and has served, amongst others roles as Director of Marine, Survey & Geotech, and Regional Manager Europe-Africa for the Survey Division. He holds an MSc in Geodetic Engineering from Delft University of Technology.

Damen has signed a contract with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in Ankara, Turkey for the supply of six, state-of- the-art Search and Rescue (SAR) vessels for delivery in 2017. The boats are being financed by the European Union and will be operated by the Turkish Coastguard (TURCG), to support the refugees and migrants rescue operations. The award-winning Damen SAR 1906 is a state-of- the-art SAR craft and is the result of a five-year R&D programme initiated by Damen in partnership with the Royal Netherlands Sea Rescue Institution (KNRM), Delft University of Technology and De Vries Lentsch Naval Architects. The SAR 1906 is an all-weather, self-righting vessel with an aluminium hull and a composite wheelhouse.

The Port of Rotterdam is pioneering a new technology it says will make the port smarter: a water drone. Ever since the 'insane' plan of Pieter Caland to build the Nieuwe Waterweg, new solutions that make the port of Rotterdam smarter, more efficient, better and more sustainable are thought up constantly. One of the latest developments is the water drone. “Innovation flows through Rotterdam, like the water through the Maas,” a poetic entrepreneur once said. That is definitely true. Not because it is 'nice to have', but because it is a necessary step towards a successful future. Therefore, the Port Authority is fully committed to all possible ways of innovation, says Allard Castelein, Chief Executive Officer of the Port of Rotterdam Authority. Allard added: “Innovation cannot be forced.

Dagmar Nelissen, Senior researcher and consultant at CE Delft, will present the preliminary findings of the EU DG Clima study ‘Analysis of market potentials and market barriers for wind propulsion technologies for ships’, at next week’s Natural Propulsion Seminar. The study’s general objective is to aid the European Commission in exploring how further support can be provided to ensure that wind propulsion technologies are deployed in the shipping sector. “The CO2 abatement measures…