On October 10, 2016, during the Dutch national Sustainability Day, on board of the MS Borelli, a barge that has been converted with electric propulsion, the 178 sustainable maritime solutions powered by the Dutch and collected by Netherlands Maritime Technology (NMT) have been presented. The solutions were handed over to Salima Belhaj (member of the Dutch Parliament party D66) and Brigit Gijsbers (Ministery of Infrastructure & Environment). With this number of solutions the Dutch maritime technology sector shows it can compete against various social challenges.
Meteorologist Margot Ribberink from the Meteo Group (member of the association NMT) showed the consequences of climate change, such as the rise of sea level and hurricanes. Water transport is known to be much less polluting than transport by road and by air, but it can and should be even cleaner.
Many of the developments that are being discussed on National, European and International level, are currently all realisable for both the sea and inland shipping.
Salima Belhaj (member of the Dutch Parliament party D66) and Brigit Gijsbers (Director of Maritime Affairs - Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment) received the total number of 178 solutions by Hans Voorneveld (NMT) and Margot Ribberink (Meteo Group).
Upon receipt Belhaj and Gijsbers pointed out the importance of these solutions and they spoke out their appreciation for all the positive developments within the Dutch maritime sector.
Salima Belhaj is pleased sustainability is gaining more interest and that more and more entrepreneurs are convinced of the importance: “D66 stands for rewarding these initiators. Therefore providing funding is included in our election manifesto of 2017. Moreover, I am proud that the shipyards, suppliers and the rest of the Dutch maritime sector worked out this initiative together.”
This statement is endorsed by Brigit Gijsbers: “The accumulated number of solutions demonstrates the innovative strength of the Dutch maritime sector. There are several emission reduction commitments made at global and European level. Nevertheless, it requires more standards and this is what we are working on. I am pleased to see that the Dutch industry offers real solutions. Illustrative of this is the R&D rate of the sector, which is twice higher than the national average.”
