The 2024 European Commercial Marine Awards (ECMA's) winners were announced last night, Tuesday June 11, during a packed ceremony held at the Waterfront Restaurant on site on the first day of Seawork, Europe's largest commercial marine and workboat exhibition.
The ECMA’s celebrated the outstanding individuals and innovative companies that comprise the vibrant and productive commercial marine industry.
The Innovations Showcase gives exhibitors the opportunity to demonstrate the latest in equipment, services, projects, and vessels introduced in the last 12 months since the last Seawork Exhibition.
The Innovations Category Awards went to:
Vessel Design & Construction - Artemis Technologies for its EF-12 electric foiling pilot boat
Marine Power & Propulsion - ePropulsion for its X12 electric outboard
Electronic & Electrical Systems - Sea-Flux, for its vessel management software.
Safety & Training - Wescom Group, for its sMRT Alert.
Navigation & Communication - Actisense for its Type-approved NMEA 0183 and 2000 multiplexer
Environmental / Renewable Energy - Hefring Marine for its EcoSpeed solution.
Marine Equipment & Materials - Lifting Gear and Safety for its Powertex r-PET Textile slings
Deck Equipment - Atlantis Marine Power for its AnchorGuardian.
The coveted ‘Spirit of Innovation’ trophy was presented to the most original, pioneering, and inventive entry in the Innovations Showcase, that offers a solution which makes a real difference to the industry with its design and ingenuity.
Presented to: Lifting Gear and Safety for its Powertex r-PET Textile slings
This year Seawork were delighted to be launching the Future Seawork for 2025.
Displaying three entries this year were:
- Kaja Gorska from the University of Strathclyde with her project Data Fusion for State estimation of Autonomous Surface Vehicles
- Rohan Jha from the University of Southampton with his project PROPELLER OPTIMISATION USING A COMBINED ML-ROM APPROACH
- Silvia Calvo Benthem from the university of Southampton with her project DECARBONISING TUGBOATS IN SOUTHAMPTON HARBOUR
The Maritime Sustainability Award sponsored by Greenport Congress & Cruise went to Purus for their project Purus. The judges noted that Purus seemed to be going out of its way to set a precedent in this field with transitional technologies towards cleaner fuels
The Maritime Civils Best Project Award sponsored by Maritime Contracts Journal was awarded to TMS with their project Nuneham Viaduct Emergency Works.
The judges all agreed that this project had it all – a remarkable range of equipment and engineering!
The Young Person's Development Award, sponsored by Svitzer was issued to Lily Oakley from Brockenhurst College as all the judges agreed that Lily was definitely on her way to a great future at sea! Already demonstrating her passion for a career in maritime engineering and already having secured a cadetship.
The Maritime Professional of the Year Award, this year sponsored by last year’s winners, Farra Marine went to Keith Longman from Berthon.
Keith's hands-on work throughout his career and now moving on to mentoring other businesses and assisting in an apprenticeship training scheme is to be admired.
The Lifetime Achievement Award, sponsored by Mercator Media & Maritime Journal, was presented by Mercator Media's CEO, Andrew Webster was awarded Robert Glen from E P Barrus Ltd. Glen's length of service in this industry of 65 years is truly a lifetime of living and breathing maritime, ultimately building a very successful marine engineering company
The high calibre judging panel for this year’s ECMA's included:
- Andrew Webster – CEO - Mercator Media
- Debbie Mason - Editor - Maritime Journal
- Tom Chant MBE – CEO - Society of Maritime Industries (SMI)
- Kerrie Forster – CEO - The Workboat Association
- Taira Caton – CEO – Association of Diving Contractors (ADC)
- Irene Rosberg - Programme Director Copenhagen Business School
- Jake Frith - Freelance Marine Journalist
- Molly McMaster - CECA - Next Gen
