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Nor-Shipping has announced the winners for the 2015 Nor-Shipping Awards, recognizing achievements in three areas – energy efficiency, innovative ship design and young entrepreneurship.

The Energy Efficiency Award was given to Harvest Frost, the first of three vessels designed to serve primarily for grain carriage as part of AMD Logistics’ growing fleet.

This 95,000 dwt bulk carrier was designed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), built by Oshima Shipbuilding and delivered to Archer Daniels Midland USA on October 29, 2014.

MHI provided most of its innovative features, including the conceptual design, various green technologies and the Mitsubishi Air Lubrication System. The vessel also features a new bow shape designed to reduce wave-making resistance. For propulsion, it has adopted a system that effectively converts the main engine power into propulsion power by positioning fins forward of the propellers and placing special grooves in the propeller boss cap.

“All of the shortlisted candidates had strong merits but Harvest Frost won, not for any single aspect of its design, but for its sheer number of energy saving measures,” says Malcolm Latarche, Chairman of the Energy Efficiency and Next Generation Ship awards. “The design also shows forward thinking. The vessel will be able to transit the new Panama Canal locks, making for better operational efficiencies and economies of scale as compared with current trade routes and cargo tonnages.”

The Next Generation Ship Award was given to Ulstein X-STERN, Ulstein Group’s new design feature that reduces acceleration, pitch and heave, improves comfort and safety, and widens the operational window.

It has already been commissioned for an SX175 offshore wind service vessel to be built at Ulstein Verft in Norway for German owners Bernhard Schulte/WINDEA Offshore.

X-STERN has a sloping and higher stern, allowing for a sharp shape in which the transom plate is replaced by a pointed aft. With the X-STERN, a vessel can stay positioned with the stern facing towards the weather, even in harsh conditions.

“Competition for the Next Generation Ship Award was particularly fierce. We needed extra rounds of voting even to draw up a shortlist,” says Latarche. “Ulstein’s X-STERN was eventually selected after long debate. The jury was unanimous that the winning entry had to be one likely to be adopted by several types of vessels serving in one of the most innovative shipping sectors. The fact that an order has already been placed reinforced the judges’ decision.”

The Young Entrepreneur Award went to Boyan Slat, founder and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup (Netherlands).

Boyan Slat devised a system with an array of floating barriers that catch and concentrate ocean debris to enable a platform to efficiently extract plastic afterwards. In 2014, the concept turned out to be a technically feasible and financially viable method to clean up half the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in 10 years’ time.

Raising USD 2.2 million through crowdfunding, the organization was able to enter the pilot phase of the project. The system will be first deployed in 2016, with waters between the Japanese mainland and the Korean Peninsula proposed as the location.

In Nor-Shipping’s 50th anniversary year, a total of 63 nominees have submitted their entries, making it the highest number ever for Nor-Shipping Awards.

An independent jury of nine has been set up for each award in order to bring in unique competence particular to that award’s criteria. Organizations represented included, among others, the International Maritime Organization, DNV GL and The Norwegian Marine Technology Research Institute (MARINTEK).