Europort in the light of a changing market

This year’s fair focused on the human factor in the maritime business, the importance of big data and how to deal with environmental issues. For the first time, start-up companies got a special area to present themselves. By Thomas Wägener

According to the organizers this year’s Europort from 7-10 November saw 26,733 visitors from 93 countries. About 1,100 exhibitors including[ds_preview] 14 country pavilions welcomed guests in the exhibition area of Ahoy Rotterdam. Many of the 40 side events had a focus on this year’s three core topics: »Big Data«, the »Human Factor«, and the »Environmental Age«.

At the opening ceremony, Pieter Blangé, a former Netherlands volleyball player and coach, and now innovation manager at the Royal Dutch Football Association, explained the growing importance of Big Data in the daily life. »Big Data will be part of our lives as we’ve never seen before«, he said. The goal is to be perfectly prepared either in sports or in the maritime business. In sports it’s the health of the players, while in the shipping industry maintenance is a key factor for a successful operation. »If only one part of the system fails you will get into problems,« he continued.

Albrecht Grell, Executive Vice President, Digital Solutions and Innovation at DNV GL, said that the right trim of a vessel formerly was known by the captain because of his experience. These days, sensors measure the relevant data to identify the most reliable trim behavior. Futhermore, Grell and Karin Orsel, Co-Chair Royal Dutch Shipowners Association (KVNR), Vice Chair International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), President Women’s International Shipping & Trading Association (WISTA), and CEO MF Shipping Group, expected a trend to more automation in the shipping sector in the near future. »We already see welding robots in shipyards«, agreed Astrid KeeChair woman of the NML Human Capital Council, Member Board of Directors STC Group. That would lead to a different kind of engineer. This could be also an example for the changing role of the human factor, another main topic of this year’s fair. Orsel expects more shore base support in the future what would create new jobs. Kees Jan Mes, Vice Chairman SEA Europe and Managing Director Pon Power NL, agreed. He saw an increasing importance of tools with Virtual Reality aspects. That would make the design processes more efficient because one could check in advance if the planned objects could be put into reality. »If that is not the case it’s possible to make changes before the construction phase starts.«

The Europort 2017 agenda was enhanced by four so-called Masterclasses. A human resources Masterclass, for example, underpinned the broad-based commitment of this year’s fair to human capital, in its role as a catalyst for the next maritime generation. The week brought the innovative Meet Your Peers Event, organised by Netherlands Maritime Technology (NMT), and the YoungShip »Captains of industry and how to become one« seminar. Energy Efficiency and Big Data also warranted separate Masterclasses, with the latter reflecting the emergence of an industry game-changer as far as fleet management is concerned. »When it comes to gathering KPIs such as fuel consumption, emissions and maintenance, collecting and understanding data is crucial,« suggested Matt Duke, VP Digital platform, Maritime Industry – Kongsberg Digital. Another masterclass was focused on blockchain technology, and the advantages of distributed ledgers.

In a first for Europort, this year’s event hosted the US Coast Guard’s Automated Mutual Assistance Vessel Rescue (AMVER) 2017 Awards, marking Rotterdam’s debut as a venue for the prestigious ceremony. The Awards recognized the contribution of eleven companies from the Netherlands which have made their vessels available for search and rescue around the world. Benjamin M. Strong, Director, AMVER Maritime Relations at the US Coast Guard, said: »Rotterdam is a major port and presenting AMVER awards to our Dutch partners at Europort just made sense.«

Also jostling for attention at Europort 2017 were the CEDA Dredging Days and the RINA »Power & Propulsion Alternatives for Ships« event. Furthermore, a special OSPAR gathering that focused on handling (plastic) garbage in the fishing sector was held in Rotterdam.

In addition, this year’s event included the Start-Up Plaza, where new maritime entrepreneurs put on five-minute pitches on a special stage within the plaza. The last day also saw a »Maximising Young Talent« showcase session that allowed ten would-be entrepreneurial students to pitch their innovations at »Speakers’ Corner«. But also companies that are already known to the shipping sector presented their new products. Caterpillar Marine unveiled its new multi-engine optimisation tool for the first time while, exhibition visitors were also introduced to new propulsion, automation and wheelhouse technologies for tugs. These included thruster technologies from Veth Propulsion, who introduced its integrated electric-driven L-drive at the exhibition, and the presentation of integrated X-Connect automation, alarm monitoring and power control systems by Ulstein Power & Control. Yanmar showed its medium speed dual fuel engine 6EY26DF. With a power of 1.533 kW it is designed for operation on either diesel fuel or liquefied natural gas (LNG). According to the company emissions of sulphur oxides (SOx) and particulate matter are cut by 99% when running on LNG, while nitrogen oxides (NOx) are reduced by 85%, and CO2 by 20% to 25%. It would be possible to switch between gas and liquid fuels even under full engine loads, while air-fuel ratios are automatically adjusted for optimum operation under different load fluctuations and methane concentrations. The Belgian engine manufacturer ABC infomed that it has received approval and notations from Bureau Veritas for its hybrid solutions. According to ABC the approval makes it possible to offer a hybrid propulsion system with various options including main engines, complete generator sets, power management systems, alternative power sources and even complete propulsion packages.

The next edition of Europort will be held between 5-8 November 2019 in Rotterdam. According to Jolanda Jansen, Director of Ahoy Rotterdam, one year later a new conference centre will be opened. It will be the biggest in the Netherlands and will host future editions of the fair.