Seawork Honors 2015 Award Winners

After the first day of Seawork International, nearly 300 exhibitors packed The Vestry, Southampton, to enjoy canapés and bubbles at Seawork’s Network and Awards Evening, and to find out the winners of the Innovations Showcase, the Sprit of Innovation Award, the Maritime Professional of the Year Award as well as the Seawork Lifetime Achievement Award.

 

Compere for the evening was Southampton’s power boat champion, and TV and radio pundit Shelley Jory.

 

The category winner for Vessel Design & Construction was Gobbler Boats for Gobbler Offshore 290. Gobbler Boats was also the overall winner and recipient of the Seawork Spirit of Innovation trophy, which was presented last night by Jamie Scimjer of URICA Early Payment. The category winner for Marine Civil Engineering and Construction was Bollard Load Testing Limited for Bollard Load Testing (BLT). They were also an overall runner-up for the Spirit of Innovation award. The category winner for Marine Equipment, Electronic & Materials was Dynamic Load Monitoring for its Acoustic Load Shackle.

 

The category winner for Diving & Underwater went to Fairlocks Pool Products for its Nemo Underwater Drill. The category winner for Safety & Training went to 54 North Maritime Training for its Apprenticeships in Maritime Studies – Workboats. They were also a runner-up for the overall Spirit of Innovation award. Finally, the category winner for Power & Propulsion went to MDS Marine for its OXE Diesel.

 

Now in its second year, the 3Si Maritime Professional of the Year Award drew a great deal of interest, both during the nomination process, and then into the voting stages. The four finalists were announced on June 1 via social media, launching the vote into the hands of the public. The final four all ran an exceptional campaign, with often only 15-20 votes between the top two.

 

After more than 1,000 votes cast via Seatwork’s Facebook page, the professional crowned 3Si Maritime Professional of the Year, 2015 was Anne Hornigold from 54 North Maritime Training.

 

Andrew Hodgson nominated Anne Hornigold for the award because, “Anne Hornigold, Chief Executive, 54 North Maritime Training has been heavily involved in the Maritime Industry for over 13 years, training apprentices and adults into maritime careers. She has raised the profile of the company UK wide, working strategically at all levels, from routine to ministerial level. Working closely with the MCA, the Maritime Skills Alliance, National Workboat Association and Trinity House, to name but a few, she is recognized for the establishment of excellence in maritime safety training, initially in the fishing industry, and latterly in the workboat industry. 54 North Maritime Training, under Anne’s guidance, has received many quality and excellence awards. The company considers safety training is paramount, and has an outstanding safety record. Anne’s introduction of a robust safety training program has resulted, to date, in no major accidents or deaths for anyone trained by the company. Currently, 54 North Maritime Training are the only UK training provider successfully delivering the new Workboat Apprenticeship. During 2012 Anne achieved a Degree in Leadership and Management. In 2013 she became a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute. Anne was thrilled to be awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honor’s list in June 2014, for Services to Education.”

 

The other three finalists were Benjamin Metcalfe, Managing Director, Landau UK; Dr. Trevor Dobbins, Technical Director, STR Research Ltd & 20 Knots Plus and Peter Chalk, Owner of PME Power Systems Group.

 

The winner of Seawork’s ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ 2015 was Peter Nelmes, Marine Business Manager at ZF Services UK Ltd. Having recently reached his 20th anniversary with the company, Nelmes  will retire from ZF Services at the end of this year. Starting his career at ZF Services as a Sales Engineer in the March of 1995, Peter moved his way up the company becoming Product Group Manager – Marine, Sales Manager, Account Manager and finally Marine Business Manager.

 

Peter’s Manager, Glenn Ayres, Defense and Rail Business Manager at ZF Services had the following to say about Peter; “Peter has been the driving force behind our development of our Marine business, his understanding of the markets we are in, and the depth of knowledge of our product range is unrivalled and to a large extent irreplaceable.

 

“He rarely needs to consult our product directory, instead he is able to match our products from the top of his head to any engine when requested to do so.

 

“Peter is seen as Mr. Marine at ZFSUK and is deeply embedded in the industry, his customers see him as a friend, which I’ve witnessed during customer meetings. His factory colleagues are also very fond of Peter and all are disappointed that he is nearing retirement.”