Netherlands to Stage First Offshore Exhibition

In mid-December, the Maritime Museum Rotterdam is to stage the first ever exhibition in the Netherlands dedicated to the offshore sector.

The exhibition, Offshore Experience, will be housed at the museum for the next seven years.

The exhibition is said to provide visitors with an overview of the search for oil, gas, wind energy and renewables at sea.

Over 45 companies in the shipping and offshore maritime sector are among those who have contributed to the funding for Offshore Exhibition.

“A lot of the energy comes from oil, gas or wind and is obtained offshore at sea. Dutch companies are in demand throughout the world for the expertise they can bring to complex high-tech offshore projects in the most dynamic conditions. After all, just how do you construct a wind turbine at sea? How do you position a 30,000-ton platform on the seabed, accurate to the centimetre? And how do you prevent gas leaks at 3 km depth? The question for the future is not whether we will be able to drill deeper or under increasingly difficult circumstances, but how we can be more sustainable,” Frits Loomeijer, General Director of the Maritime Museum, said.

Visitors to Offshore Experience will be able to see what it is like to work at sea, even three km below the surface.

People of all ages will be wearing a safety vest and helmet to experience what it is like to be on an offshore construction in the middle of the sea. In addition, there will be a 360° film projection. Ships come and go and helicopters land. Models of the newest and most advanced offshore ships will demonstrate their capabilities.

Offshore employees will offer a glimpse into their lives at sea, and simulated presentations will enable visitors to experience for themselves how drillers, crane drivers, wind turbine specialists and helicopter pilots undertake their demanding tasks on the open sea, in a constant battle with the elements.

A lift will take visitors down to a mysterious undersea world, from just below the surface to a depth of 3 km. The adventure ends in the future, as visitors vote for the best sustainable idea for producing energy at sea.

As well as developing the exhibition, the museum is also expanding the limits of Holland’s maritime heritage by adding offshore to its collection policy. It is carrying out a research into the history of the offshore sector in collaboration with Erasmus University and setting a course in terms of technology education and project-funding.

The Offshore Experience can also be programmed as an educational location for primary, secondary and vocational education. The exhibition is the basis of a new technology education programme in the museum which is in line with the National Technology Pact 2020. This is an agreement under which the Netherlands government and social partners are setting out a long-term approach for increasing the numbers of technically skilled professionals.