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The fifth edition of the Maritime Awards Gala took place at the Amsterdam Convention Factory yesterday (November 10th).

The audience was filled with top managers from across the Dutch maritime industry as well as government delegates, politicians and members of the press. At the event, the prestigious VNSI Timmers Award 2010 for young maritime designers was awarded to Nico van der Hoeven from Alewijnse Marine Technology B.V. based in Nijmegen, Netherlands. To enthusiastic applause Nico accepted the award and the cheque that went with it from Ms Karla Peijs, Royal Commissioner for the province of Zeeland.

Nico works as a systems engineer at Alewijnse Marine Systems for the company’s dedicated research and development department Alewijnse Marine Technology B.V., and was nominated during the Designers Congress held in June this year at the Ship Simulator Centre of STC Rotterdam for his exceptional work and display of technical skill on the development of the automation system for the ground-breaking fuel cell boat project.

Called H2 Nemo, the fuel cell boat is a canal trip vessel capable of carrying 90 passengers and built for the Lovers Shipping Company. It is now operational on the waterways of Amsterdam and is powered entirely by hydrogen.

The hydrogen is converted by fuel cells into electricity which is then used to power the motors, making the vessel entirely emissions free.

For optimal efficiency the boat requires a sophisticated monitoring and automation system to manage the fuel consumption and cooling, and also alert the captain should any issues arise. It is for his work on this project that Nico received the VNSI Timmers Award 2010.