The Maritime Research Institute Netherlands was founded in 1929 as the Netherlands Ship Model Basin (NSMB) by the Dutch government and industry. The work was started in 1932, following completion of the deep water towing tank.
To cope with the ever-increasing demands of the industry for research in the fields of powering performance, seakeeping and manoeuvring, including shallow water effects,cavitation, vibration, noise, etc., a whole series of special test laboratories was successively built (Deep Water Towing Tank 1951, Shallow Water Basin 1958, High Speed Basin 1965, Depressurised Towing Tank 1972, Cavitation tunnel 1979. A new Seakeeping and Manoeuvring Basin became operational in the course of 1999. The upgrading of the Depressurised Towing Tank was completed in 2001.
As offshore technology experienced extensive growth, MARIN has become involved in offshore projects since 1960. A Wave and Current Basin was built in 1973, it was replaced by a complete new Offshore Basin in 2000.
As early as 1970, MARIN extended its activities to include nautical research and training. For this purpose, a modern Vessel Traffic Simulator and two full-mission simulators are available today.
At present, approximately 240 people work at MARIN; together they are responsible for a yearly turnover of € 24 million. 85% of it earned on the commercial worldwide maritime market.
For more information visit www.marin.nl