Technology tops the bill at Europort 2011

Over the years Europort has evolved to become one of the major maritime exhibitions worldwide, encompassing everything from sea shipping to dredging, vessel construction, and all manner of ancillary equipment.

The Ahoy complex is once again fully booked with over 1,000 exhibitors presenting new technology to the international market. Europort 2011 focuses on Advanced Technology, crucial in an increasingly competitive environment.

With innovation identified as key to the future success, companies know they have to keep up with the very latest developments. Many companies from various maritime disciplines compete to place cost efficient and effective solutions in the marketplace. Saving fuel, cutting emissions, green technology are just some of the topics high on the agenda. Europort is an important exhibition for showcasing such innovation.

Europort offers maritime equipment manufacturers and suppliers a platform to meet customers, designers, shipowners and shipyards, but also colleagues and competitors. They are all dependent on one another and working towards the goals to make the industry more efficient and environmentally friendly. Innovations and the latest R&D are discussed informally at Europort. Some of the very best innovations are often a result of resulting collaborations. Future developments in the various maritime sectors are also central stage in a comprehensive conference programme. The interactive opening ceremony will present a vision of the future of the maritime industry within the next 30 years. A Green Route on the exhibition floor will provides an overview of companies that display products with a demonstrable reduction in the environmental impact of ships.

Among the products on display, Dutch specialist shipbuilder IHC Merwede will be showing scale models of the trailing suction hopper dredger Congo River, the cutter suction dredger Athena, the heavy lift vessel Oleg Strashnov, and the offshore support vessel Hos Achiever. Dredging equipment represented will include flexible spud carriers for a CSD, the new Curve pump impeller with blades designed to improve the suction characteristics of a dredge pump, and the IHC Merwede designed BoneCrusher suction/discharge hose featuring shaped steel rings to protect against abrasion.

Damen Dredging Equipment (DDE) will be present both at the CEDA Dredging Days as well as at the Europort exhibition. CEDA Dredging Days are a technical forum held during the exhibition, this year themed ‘Dredging and Beyond’. DDE will present its standard range of DOP dredgers, CSDs, and dredging components for TSHDs plus the latest addition of the RoRo Deep Dredge.

SAM Electronics’ Rotterdam based L-3 Dutch subsidiary, SAM Electronics Nederland, will feature its ranges of advanced automation, communications and navigation equipment for all types of workboats and ships. Featured exhibits will include a SAM stand-alone ECDISPILOT together with the latest Dynamic Positioning and AIS developments from L-3 Communications.

Hinting at the great range of products on display at Europort, the Sheffield UK based EnviraSponge Division of the Samuel Hodge Group will be showing a new dry abrasive blasting system that minimises dust, improves visibility for operators and reduces containment and extraction problems for vessel repair yards. The EnviraSponge system uses an advanced sponge-coated abrasive that flattens on impact with the target surface while the sponge absorbs the dust created in a controlled way.

New for Europort 2011 is provision for visitors to specify during early registration which products and services they are specifically interested in. They will receive a specified exhibitor list one week prior to the exhibition. Besides this matchmaking at product level, a matchmaking event for maritime professionals will be organised at Europort for the first time, MariMatch 2011.

The Europort Enterprise Network provides this mediation platform for all companies in shipbuilding and marine technology that are looking for new business contacts and development partners. Europort also facilitates online meetings between maritime professionals. Via a LinkedIn group, a Twitter account and a specially designed mobile app, visitors and exhibitors will be informed of all the latest developments.

Maritime professionals can register for Europort for free at www.europort.nl/registration or at the entrance to the exhibition.