Twenty-four enthusiastic girls dove headfirst into the world of simulators and virtual reality at MARIN during this year’s Girls’ Day, an event where companies open their doors to girls and introduce them to science, technology and IT. With energy and curiosity, they built their own boats and raced them in our Concept Basin to see who was the fastest. And yes—those boats had to brave the waves too, adding an extra layer of challenge! The girls were creative, focused, and showed real teamwork. Truly inspiring!

The Industry Safety Day provided a great way “to look into each other’s kitchen”, share viewpoints based on a shared experience and ultimately, create safer practices for all.

For more information contact Dimitri van Heel

The Platform Zero Incidents (PZI) held its Industry Safety Day 2025 on March 28.

With the focus of the event on the interactions between seagoing vessels and inland barges in port environments, MARIN contributed by providing some challenging simulation scenarios in its new Seven Oceans Simulator centre. Here, the participants underwent a number of simulations in the ports of Rotterdam and IJmuiden. Six simulators offered the possibility to a mix of seagoing vessels and inland barges to interact with each other and with VTS operators.

Multilingual communication, reduced visibility and emergency situations like a blacked-out vessel in the middle of the fairway, offered inspiration for good discussions and more understanding between each other’s modus operandi. Around 60 leaders in maritime safety participated in the simulations and discussions.

By modelling both the original diesel configuration and the new methanol setup in the Zero Emission Lab, MARIN can compare both systems and quantify benefits before substantial investments are made.

Interested? Contact Nicole van Spronsen

Through the EU-funded Innovation Action SYNERGETICS project, MARIN demonstrates that retrofitting can effectively make inland or coastal ships more sustainable. SYNERGETICS provides solutions to shipowners and policymakers for improving the environmental performance of existing vessels.

In MARIN’s Zero Emission Lab the retrofit of a push boat owned by Via Donau is investigated. The ship sails the Danube area with one barge and is responsible for maintaining the river to ensure safe vessel passage.

MARIN analyzed the operational profile of the ship and the needs of the shipowner and concluded that methanol was the most suitable energy carrier, considering all the requirements and the potential greening.