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26Maritime Reporter & Engineering News MARIN?s unique Depressurised Wave Basin (DWB) was officially in- augurated on March 19 by MaximeVerhagen, the Dutch Minister of Eco- nomic Affairs, Agriculture and Innova- tion. Representing the combination ofa depressurized towing tank with a wave maker, the DWB creates a world first. The Depressurized Wave Basin is a unique research facility for testing ships and offshore structures in the most realistic operational conditions.The basin is fitted with wave generators and the air pressure in the entire basincan be decreased to as low as 2,5% of the atmospheric pressure. This way many important aspects can be studied using a properly-scaled condition forboth water and air. The inauguration took place in thepresence of representatives from vari- ous government ministries, the navy, maritime industry, reputed knowledge institutes and from ?Topsector Water?, (a government-backed process which brings together experts from industry and research institutes to promote thevast water-related knowledge and expe- rience the Netherlands has).The cooperation between govern- ment, knowledge institutes and the business community is at the heart of the DWB, symbolising the so-called ?golden triangle?. This is a unique col- laboration: the government will con- tribute to research and knowledge development and MARIN will in turn, use the new facility to effectively de- velop this knowledge and then compa- nies can use this knowledge for valuable input into their innovations. The ?golden triangle? results in aunique cooperation able to bring cre-ative, innovative solutions to the indus- try. When Minister Verhagen officially started up the new wave makers in the basin it was certainly an impressive sight. He said: ?MARIN proves that even the most complex dreams can come true. What is happening here, is unique in the world. With the water basin, the waves and the ingenious vac- uum technique, MARIN is working with and for companies carrying out toplevel research.? This huge project (representing an in-vestment of E17m) started in February 2010. Dubbed ?the Cathedral? atMARIN, the sheer scale is astounding.The DWB contains 35 million liters of water and took an extraordinary two weeks to fill. It has never been possible before to test ships and offshore structures in such realistic operational conditions.The new research facility will make an important contribution to improving safety and the efficiency of propulsion and in reducing resistance, conse-quently improving energy efficiency and helping to reduce emissions.By Ellen te Winkel, MARIN NEWS & ANALYSIS VesselsValue.com VesselsValue.com provides data driven ship valuations for tankers,bulkers and containerships. Thesegraphs show how vessel value de-pends on age for the major types.Vessels are assumed to have typical size and specification for age and highbuilt quality at a top tier shipyard. Apps AboundThe ?apps? for use in personal andprofessional endeavors is ubiquitous. Here are a few of the more interesting releases for the maritime space. Cummins Inc.unveiled itsSmartphone app allow- ing job seekers the abil-ity to interact with 3Dversions of its latest en-gine technologies andsearch for career op- portunities. Good tim- ing, as the companyrecently announced plans to hire hundreds for its plant in Indiana. Available on theiPhone and Android operating system: http://cumminscareersapp.com Mariners alongthe U.S. eastcoast can down-load a new iPadand iPhone appli-cation thatwarns themwhen they enterareas of high risk of collision with critically endangered North At- lantic right whales. The free app provides one source for information, all overlaid on NOAA digital charts. A key feature: a display linking near real-time acoustic buoys that listen for right whale calls to an iPad or iPhoneon a ship?s bridge showing the whale?s presence to captains transit- ing the shipping lanes. Downloadedfrom the iTunes App store. A team of scientific andeducational organiza- tions led by Woods Hole Group developed a smart phone app to study fish deaths inBuzzards Bay. The ?Buzzards Bay Fish Mortality? app utilizesmobile crowdsourcing to collect data from citizens who encounter dead fish on the beaches and waters of Buz-zards Bay. The goal is to collect enough data to verify reports of large numbers of fish mortality in the area. It uses ?mCrowd? - a crowdsourcing platform developed by the Universityof Massachusetts Amherst. It is avail-able for free in the iTunes App Store. It will soon be available for Android users. Marin opens World?s First Depressurized Wave Basin (Images: MARIN)MR May 12 # 4 (25-33):MR Template 5/7/2012 2:40 PM Page 26