Hull Vane wins Maritime Innovation Award 2015

This 2nd of November, the Dutch Maritime Awards Gala took place in a former submarine construction hall in the port of Rotterdam. During the event, the Maritime Innovation Award (MIA) was awarded to the best innovation in the Dutch maritime industry. This year, Hull Vane took first place with its energy saving device the Hull Vane®.

Two years ago the Hull Vane® was also nominated. However, an important requirement for the MIA is that the innovation needs to be applied and proven at full scale, which was not yet the case at that time. In 2014, two Hull Vane®-equipped vessels with proven fuel consumption reductions between 10 and 20 percent were launched, which means that Hull Vane did now fulfill this prerequisite. A full-scale Hull Vane® even made its appearance at the Awards Gala, as the 55-metre supply vessel Karina was moored alongside the event location.

During last two years, de Hull Vane® thus has become a mature, commercially viable product, which was recognized by the MIA’s jury. On behalf of the Jury, the president of Maritime by Holland, Mr. van Sluis, praised the Hull Vane® for its broad applicability. The jury also agreed that the Hull Vane® is an affordable solution for the reduction of fuel consumption, with a payback period of 1 to 3 years.

Although the Hull Vane® is a fairly simple construction, similar to a rudder, the design is unique for each vessel, and supports to a large extent on the possibilities that Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) offers. Fourteen years of development has been put into the invention by Dutch hydrodynamicist Pieter van Oossanen. The Hull Vane® is now patented worldwide. It most most applicable to relatively fast displacement vessels, such as naval & coastguard vessels, ferries & roro vessels, superyachts and certain offshore supply vessels.

The nomination for the MIA already generated a lot of interest in the Hull Vane®. Winning the prestigious award will certainly convince more prospects to investigate the feasibility of the Hull Vane® for their vessels. Early adopters like shipyard De Hoop and Heesen Yachts, see their confidence in the Hull Vane® proven in this award, and of course in the performance of their vessels.

The award can be seen on Hull Vane’s stand on Europort, which is held this week in Ahoy Rotterdam (stand 5208). In two weeks, the award will also be shown at the METS (Marine Equipment Trade Show), in the RAI in Amsterdam.

Hull Vane wishes to thank the jury as well as all the professionals in the industry that have supported the idea throughout the years.