Forging the future: Workboat industry looks ahead
March 31, 2026By Seawork Show News - March 2026
Workboat Association
Get set for Workboat 2050
KVNR
Show News
Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management
UK P&I Club
Rabobank
Delegates from across the workboat industry thrashed out issues affecting the sector at Seawork’s Get Set for Workboat session in Rotterdam this week, with general agreement on the issues themselves, if not always how to solve them.
The ‘industry that keeps the world afloat’, in the words of Workboat Association CEO Kerrie Forster, who opened the event, was having to make rapid advances in digitalisation, AI, green fleets and skills and career options.
“The real challenge is not the innovation itself, it’s how do we scale it?” asked Wijtze van der Leij, sales manager - Offshore Wind with Damen, a gold sponsor of the event. “2030 may not seem far away, but the transition is already under way.
“By 2050 a workboat will be zero emissions, connected not only to shore but to other vessels and operated by crews with a different skill set then today. They will be cleaner and smarter, but we need to move behind the pilot projected and make sustainability operators the standard. It needs investment, collaboration and people.”
Annet Koster, managing director of the Royal Association of Netherlands Shipowners (KVNR) said the sector needed to shake off its older mindset to move forward. “We need people who are willing to listen to different perspectives and who are willing to learn,” she told delegates.
“Today is about the transformation that’s already happening and happening faster than ever before. Change calls for courage to take risk, for willingness to adopt new standards and creativity to think outside the box.”
Koster acknowledged that factors beyond the sector’s control were perhaps forcing change when it might not have happened so quickly.
“At this moment a hundred or so Dutch vessels are lying in the Persian Gulf, in a war situation. Some of them are workboats,” she said. “Seafarers are left on board, facing uncertainty far from home. And the painful truth is it’s only during crises like this that the world sees how the marimime industry keeps the world moving.
“It’s been said that you should never waste a good crisis, but I don’t think we need a crisis like this.”
New fuels conundrum
Several speakers spoke up about the new fuels on the horizon, and that the Iran conflict and its effects on oil prices might provide more of a motive to adapt them faster than the environmental reason.
Eleni Poupaki, senior policy adviser with the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, admitted that they brought with them a lot of risk.
“The crew needs to be trained,” she said, with training being another theme of the conference.
“We have to start thinking about human-centred design. How does someone deal with 20 alarms going off at the same time? Do we have enough alternative fuels? Infrastructure? Facilities? Are ports ready to receive and fuel ships with methanol or ammonia? Can we train crews on board ships for alternative fuels if they are not even there yet?”
Training and availability of alternative fuels are just two of the problems that go with them, said John Hearn, senior underwriter, Fixed Premium P&I with the UK P&I Club.
“From the insurance perspective you guys are in for a bit of a reality check,” he told the conference. “There’s a huge will for green fuels to come around but as it stands there’s not a lot of pricing credence given to green boats.
“We really need data and there’s not enough data or ships to be able to build into our ratings yet – we want it to happen but we’re just at the start of a very long journey.”
“Greening the fleet is something we have to do,” said Eomer Zwijnenberg, Director Corporate Lending Wholesale - Energy Transition and Circularity, at Rabobank.
“We provide loans but the challenge we see is more from the shipowners’ perspective on identifying the right pathways to decarbonisation. There is momentum, banks are there for the long term, but the green element poses a complexity.”
“The term ‘green washing’ is not in our vocabulary,” said Niels van de Minkelis, director -Safety & Environment with KVNR.
“Our members have a genuine incentive and drive to green their fleets. I believe the availability of fuel and price are the key elements. Where should we focus? Which of the fuels?”
“We are sitting back waiting,” said John Hearn. “It’s going to require patience. There are green vessels out there, they’re not getting preferential treatment and we are insuring them. It’s not going to be a cheaper price but as data builds up we will factor it in.”
More updates from the Get Set for Workboat 2050 conference at the Wereldmuseum in Rotterdam will be published in the coming days.
Book here for the next session of Get Set for Workboat 2050 - live at Seawork 2026
The ‘industry that keeps the world afloat’, in the words of Workboat Association CEO Kerrie Forster, who opened the event, was having to make rapid advances in digitalisation, AI, green fleets and skills and career options.
“The real challenge is not the innovation itself, it’s how do we scale it?” asked Wijtze van der Leij, sales manager - Offshore Wind with Damen, a gold sponsor of the event. “2030 may not seem far away, but the transition is already under way.
“By 2050 a workboat will be zero emissions, connected not only to shore but to other vessels and operated by crews with a different skill set then today. They will be cleaner and smarter, but we need to move behind the pilot projected and make sustainability operators the standard. It needs investment, collaboration and people.”
Annet Koster, managing director of the Royal Association of Netherlands Shipowners (KVNR) said the sector needed to shake off its older mindset to move forward. “We need people who are willing to listen to different perspectives and who are willing to learn,” she told delegates.
“Today is about the transformation that’s already happening and happening faster than ever before. Change calls for courage to take risk, for willingness to adopt new standards and creativity to think outside the box.”
Koster acknowledged that factors beyond the sector’s control were perhaps forcing change when it might not have happened so quickly.
“At this moment a hundred or so Dutch vessels are lying in the Persian Gulf, in a war situation. Some of them are workboats,” she said. “Seafarers are left on board, facing uncertainty far from home. And the painful truth is it’s only during crises like this that the world sees how the marimime industry keeps the world moving.
“It’s been said that you should never waste a good crisis, but I don’t think we need a crisis like this.”
New fuels conundrum
Several speakers spoke up about the new fuels on the horizon, and that the Iran conflict and its effects on oil prices might provide more of a motive to adapt them faster than the environmental reason.
Eleni Poupaki, senior policy adviser with the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, admitted that they brought with them a lot of risk.
“The crew needs to be trained,” she said, with training being another theme of the conference.
“We have to start thinking about human-centred design. How does someone deal with 20 alarms going off at the same time? Do we have enough alternative fuels? Infrastructure? Facilities? Are ports ready to receive and fuel ships with methanol or ammonia? Can we train crews on board ships for alternative fuels if they are not even there yet?”
Training and availability of alternative fuels are just two of the problems that go with them, said John Hearn, senior underwriter, Fixed Premium P&I with the UK P&I Club.
“From the insurance perspective you guys are in for a bit of a reality check,” he told the conference. “There’s a huge will for green fuels to come around but as it stands there’s not a lot of pricing credence given to green boats.
“We really need data and there’s not enough data or ships to be able to build into our ratings yet – we want it to happen but we’re just at the start of a very long journey.”
“Greening the fleet is something we have to do,” said Eomer Zwijnenberg, Director Corporate Lending Wholesale - Energy Transition and Circularity, at Rabobank.
“We provide loans but the challenge we see is more from the shipowners’ perspective on identifying the right pathways to decarbonisation. There is momentum, banks are there for the long term, but the green element poses a complexity.”
“The term ‘green washing’ is not in our vocabulary,” said Niels van de Minkelis, director -Safety & Environment with KVNR.
“Our members have a genuine incentive and drive to green their fleets. I believe the availability of fuel and price are the key elements. Where should we focus? Which of the fuels?”
“We are sitting back waiting,” said John Hearn. “It’s going to require patience. There are green vessels out there, they’re not getting preferential treatment and we are insuring them. It’s not going to be a cheaper price but as data builds up we will factor it in.”
More updates from the Get Set for Workboat 2050 conference at the Wereldmuseum in Rotterdam will be published in the coming days.
Book here for the next session of Get Set for Workboat 2050 - live at Seawork 2026
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