2018 Innovation Award winner: – Media coverage and recognition outside the industry

The application deadline for the 2022 Innovation Award is fast approaching. The last time the prize was awarded, Liegruppen and Salt Ship Design won it, for their innovative and environmentally friendly fishing vessel “Libas”. The media coverage and recognition that arose in the wake of the award ceremony changed the way the industry views ship design.

Since the 70s, the collaboration between the fishing company Liegruppen and the ship designer Salt Ship has resulted in 16 ships.

— Liegruppen challenged us to make the world’s most environmentally friendly fishing vessel – in just two years. This meant that we had to find existing technology and put this technology together in a way that had never been done before . In addition, we wanted to challenge traditional ship design , by creating a yacht-inspired fishing vessel. The result; a sustainable and innovative ship that was awarded the Nor-Fishing Innovation Award, says Egil Sandvik, leader of Salt Ship.

— The Jury hit the bulls-eye

When asked what the Innovation Award meant for the project, it is not the cash prize that is first highlighted by the CEO of Liegruppen, Bjarne Haldorsen – but the recognition.

— We put a lot of energy into the project, and it was incredibly rewarding getting recognized by the jury. It motivated us to continue thinking outside the box and use future-oriented technology in our vessels. Since 2018, we have, among other things, developed another fishing vessel that saves around 10% fuel with pull-out wavefoils and a battery pack on board, says Haldorsen.

Sandvik and Haldorsen agree that the jury hit the bulls-eye four years ago, considering how important alternative fuels and environmentally friendly solutions in the fishing industry have become since the prize was last awarded.

The “Libas” fishing vessel

• Uses the natural gas LNG as the primary energy source.
• Equipped with turbines in the stabilization tank, which produce electricity during rocking.
• Launched in 2021.

Broad attention outside the industry

Sandvik and Haldorsen believe that there were many worthy candidates in 2018, all of whom had deserved the prestigious Innovation Award. They encourage others who work with innovation to apply.

— Winning the award gives you and your project a lot of attention and extraordinary media coverage. Many big news media outside the industry mention the winner and the attention is worth its weight in gold for our marketing.

A new standard for ship design

It was Liegruppen that ordered the unique design of «Libas».

There are several fishing companies that think the vessel looked very nice with the yacht design, and in many ways we can talk about a time before and after “Libas“ in ship design. Many have been inspired by the design after the Innovation Award, says Haldorsen.

“Libas” was delivered in 2021 and is currently on the fishing grounds between Norway and the United Kingdom.

Send us your application today, to be considered for the Innovation Award 2022!

The application deadline is May 15^th and the prize will be awarded during the opening ceremony at Nor-Fishing in Trondheim.