Winners at the 2020 Offshore Support Journal Conference & Awards shared a focus on bringing efficiency and innovation to a competitive sector
The annual Offshore Support Journal Conference & Awards in London ended its first day with a gala dinner where hundreds of delegates from around the industry gathered to show appreciation to the businesses and individuals who are pushing the industry forward.
In a crowded field, nominees were shortlisted and industry voting determined winners for categories including support vessel of the year, shipowner of the year, innovation of the year, contributions to environmental practices, offshore renewables, subsea innovation, dynamic positioning, safety, industry leadership and Offshore Support Journal’s award for a lifetime’s achievement.
Henriette Hallberg Thygesen, Chairwoman of Maersk Supply Service won the industry leader award for her significant contributions to the offshore vessel industry.
Seacor CEO John Gellert -- recipient of the 2019 OSJ Industry Leader Award -- introduced the award, and Riviera Maritime Media head of content Edwin Lampert introduced the winner.
"When the time came to appoint a new chairwoman of the board in 2019, Danish OSV owner Maersk Supply Service (MSS) needed a leader with a diverse set of management skills, experience and insight into the oil and gas industry. It didn’t have to look very far, finding the perfect candidate within the Maersk family of companies. Henriette Thygesen was appointed chairwoman of the board of MSS on 1 June 2019. A shipping industry veteran with more than 25 years’ experience, Ms Thygesen joined AP-Moller-Maersk as a management trainee in 1994," he said.
Ms Thygesen said the award was not hers, but belonged to the entire company.
"I do feel it’s not really my award. It is an award that belongs to the employees of Maersk Supply and the leadership of Maersk Supply," she said. "It’s a recognition of all the hard work that’s been done over the past years to transform the company in very tough times. It’s required a lot of stamina and a lot of creativity, and I see my role as chairman of the board to support that."
The 2020 OSJ lifetime achievement award went to former Damen CEO and current Supervisory Board member René Berkvens.
In 2006, René was appointed CEO of the Damen Shipyards Group, a position he held for the past thirteen years. During that time he oversaw a period of growth and diversification at Damen as well as increasing levels of standardisation in shipbuilding.
Accepting via pre-recorded video, in absentia, Mr Berkvens said "Obviously, I don’t do this by myself. Therefore, I would like to dedicate this award to the many engineers and researchers that work on the product development at Damen. This award will motivate them to continue to develop innovative solutions for the offshore industry."
A full list of the winners is below.
Safety Award – Open Simulation Platform
Support Vessel of the Year Award – Alkahfi Chief
Shipowner of the Year Award – Tidewater
Innovation of the Year Award – Opsealog
Environmental Award – Maersk Supply
Offshore Renewables Award – CWind
Subsea Innovation Award – Kongsberg Maritime
Dynamic Positioning Award – Guidance Marine
OSJ Industry Leader Award – Henriette Hallberg Thygesen, Chairman of Maersk Supply Service
Lifetime Achievement Award – René Berkvens, Damen
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