Winners Announced for Three Nor-Shipping Awards

Nor-Shipping announced today the winners of the 2013 Nor-Shipping Awards recognizing achievements in three different areas – energy efficiency, innovative ship design and young entrepreneurship. The awards were presented at the Nor-Shipping Opening Conference.

The Energy Efficiency Award (previously Clean Ship Award) pays tribute to the ship that makes the greatest contribution towards energy efficiency in relation to its function or operation. The award went to Fjord Lines' Stavangerfjord, the first international service passenger ferry in the world to run on pure LNG engines. It is also designed to serve both day and night ferry markets, operating as a night ferry on the Bergen-Stavanger-Hirtshals route in Norway and as a day ferry on the Hirtshals-Langesund route.

Partnering with Nor-Shipping for this award is the International Maritime Organization (IMO), developer of the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) for new ships that came into effect this year. The other nominees were Viking Grace, CMA CGM Marco Polo and Dina Star.

The Next Generation Ship Award recognizes the yard, designer or owner with the most promising design idea for a ship at sea in the coming decade.The winner in this category was the TOTE 3100 TEU container ship. Built by General Dynamics NASSCO, the first two vessels will be delivered and enter service between Jacksonville, Florida and San Juan, Puerto Rico in 2015 and 2016. They represent the first order for LNG-powered containerships and will use a unique propulsion system to drastically improve emissions per container.

DNV returns as Nor-Shipping's partner for this award. The other nominees were Norled ZeroCat, Edda Ferd and B.Delta.

The Young Entrepreneur Award is new this year and part of efforts to further develop Nor-Shipping as an arena for the next generation. The award honors an entrepreneur under the age of 40 who has come up with new concepts and solutions, innovative technical or commercial solutions, or new logistical solutions – or who has taken on the industry or the environmental challenges it faces in a new way.

The winner in this category was Tor M. Østervold of ECOsubsea (Norway). Based on his experience working on board a commercial vessel and completing his master's in international shipping in Plymouth, Østervold came up with an innovative idea: cleaning the hull without damaging paint and at the same time collecting debris, thus sparing the environment damage. Born into a family of fishermen, he is CEO of ECOsubsea, a company he founded in 2008 and whose partners include Wilh. Wilhelmsen ASA and Innovation Norway. Their technology, approved for use in five ports, increases ship energy efficiency and reduces operational costs, invasive species and emissions.

Østervold first went to sea on fishing vessels at the age of 13, and later served as mariner, smoke-diver and gunman in the Norwegian Coastguard.

YoungShip, the fast-growing international organization for young maritime professionals, is Nor-Shipping's partner and the administrator of this award. The winner will receive free advice from BW Venture and will also be given a display area at the exhibition free of charge. The other nominees were Rainer Sternfeld of Marinexplore (USA), Styrk Bekkenes, Noreq AS (Norway) and Christoffer Thorsheim, WTL Logistics (United Arab Emirates). The award prize includes counselling by BW Ventures, and a free display area in the Nor-Shipping Venture Park.

An independent jury was set up for each award in order to bring in unique competence particular to that award's criteria. Organizations represented include, among others, the IMO, DNV and The Norwegian Marine Technology Research Institute (MARINTEK).

"Nor-Shipping has long been a supporter of industry excellence. The awards honor this tradition," said Nor-Shipping Director Vidar Pederstad.