The Norwegian business Brodrene emerged to win the eagerly anticipated JEC Award for Better Living. JEC is a corporation that is committed to encouraging businesses around the world to consider the sustainability of their products and each year it releases a series of awards for the best products that meet that overall specification of sustainability. The winners are then showcased in a showroom open to entrepreneurs and the public, this year in Paris, France.
Brodrene AA’s award-winning product is a vessel that aims to cope with the pressures of increased tourism transportation (the vessel navigates across the beautiful Naeroyfjord, an incredibly popular tourist destination) whilst paying extra care to protecting the natural environment. So that the transportation ship would have the least impact on the surrounding fjord and wildlife, Brodrene AA designed it specifically so that it would not create the kind of waves that are normally caused by a vessel of its size. This would ensure that the fragile ecosystem and peaceful surroundings of the Norwegian fjord would not be put into jeopardy.
Through a combination of robust plastic compounds and elements containing carbon, the ship was able to cope with the transportation of hundreds of tourists from one side of the fjord to the other. Equally, Brodrene AA ensured that the ship, whilst large at 42 meters in length, was however much lighter than most other models of the same size. In this way, a weaker setting for the ship’s motor was applied, thus enabling the aspects of noise pollution to be significantly reduced. Through this, Brodrene’s design was not only able to cope with a large tourist contingent, but also had a minimal impact on the fjord, which itself is considered a Heritage site of natural beauty by the Norwegian government. Needless to say, the company was delighted to receive the award and it is hoped that this may pave the way for greater levels of sustainability to be maintained on boats and other methods of nautical navigation.
