For the third time straight, Maritime CleanTech has been awarded the European Quality Gold Label for excellence in cluster management.
The Quality Gold Label is the highest standard in the European cluster quality system, awarded by the European Secretariat for Cluster Analysis (ESCA) on basis of an independent expert review.
Maritime CleanTech has previously been awarded the Gold Label twice, in 2017 and 2019. In March 2023, the recognition was renewed for a third period after an extensive assessment.
A world-leading cluster
The cluster experts were impressed by the achievements of the cluster administration: “the Maritime CleanTech cluster confirms the impression of an excellent cluster, developing from a regional based cluster on the western coast of Norway (though with world leading companies in the sector) to a world leading cluster on developing and scaling zero-emission technology in the maritime sector”.
Two independent cluster experts assessed 31 quality indicators by interviewing the cluster manager and relevant staff members. The interview findings were substantiated by relevant documents provided by the cluster organization.
Pushing ahead
“We are delighted to receive this European recognition of the work we do to promote green maritime solutions in collaboration with our nearly 150 dedicated partners,” says Ada Jakobsen, CEO of Maritime CleanTech.
“The gold label is significant now that we are at full speed out into the world with green maritime solutions. There is potential for significant climate gains in shipping worldwide, and the technology developed in our cluster is at the forefront. The gold label gives us – and our partners – extra weight when we meet with actors in Europe, Asia, and the Americas”, Jakobsen comments.
Going global
Maritime CleanTech and its partners have many ongoing international projects, gaining broad interest from the industry and the public. The ShipFC project demonstrating large-scale ammonia solutions received the European Clean Hydrogen award for best outreach in 2022.
Earlier in May, the TrAM project, which resulted in the world’s first all-electric fast-ferry, was announced as one of the EUs innovation award 2023 nominees. You can vote for TrAM here.
The Maritime CleanTech administration now looks forward to bring its renewed gold label to Nor-Shipping in Oslo to showcase these and other initiatives to develop clean maritime solutions. See more information: Celebrating Green Innovation: Join our Nor-Shipping Festival – Maritime CleanTech