Page 59: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (October 2017)

ealing Valley is a new concept that has been developed by Hans Beele,

President of Dutch engineering specialist Beele Engineering. He

S will invest in a center of expertise for the ad- vancement of ? re protection and watertight sealing technology to provide the highest possible levels of safety. Modeled on Silicon

Valley, Sealing Valley will create a concen- trated center of know-how, with shipboard and marine safety a prime focus area. It will be here that expertise, creativity and daily installation practice will come together in a campus set-up. Beele says that Sealing Val- ley will strive to change the general industry safety mentality from a reactionary one to a much more proactive approach, and de- scribes his vision in an exclusive interview with Tom Mulligan of Maritime Reporter and

Engineering News.

What gave you the idea of establishing Sealing Valley, was it a pressing need within the ? re protection and watertight sealing industry or was it a ‘moment of insight’ in which you recognized that the Silicon Valley model had potential ap- plication in your industry sector?

Ever since the development of our ? rst sealing system 45 years ago, we have visited and seen thousands of installations with cable and pipe transits that were or should be sealed in a way such that people and assets would be protected against the risks represented by water and ? re. During these visits, as well as during many discussions on ? re safety and water tightness,

I realised in particular that awareness of these risks was not what it should be. Instead of talking about safety, most of the discussions focused on talking about costs. Trying to convince people over many years that sealing devices are in fact safety devices, I felt that sealing against ? re and water was generally not a priority issue. We are obliged to install these systems be- cause of legislation, but having seen the status of such devices, if present at all, on a regular basis, it ended up for me as a mis- sion based on the idea that “we care, so we will do it better”.

Having considered several options, I came to the conclusion

Sealing Valley that starting an expertise center would be the best way of re- solving this problem. Creating an environment that combines expertise, research, development, training, education and even a pilot plant seemed to me to be the ideal solution. Sealing

Valley will, therefore, be the ultimate source of answers to any sealing-related questions. And as an ‘all inclusive’ expertise center, we will be able to translate market problems into practi- cal solutions.Having such a single hub of expertise and knowl- edge that can be shared with the industry is the ideal means by which to transfer know-how on shipboard ? re and ? ood safety and improve the way companies choose, order and install seal- ing systems in order to ensure life safety.

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