Dr. Bas Buchner

Programme Director, Maritime Uncrewed Royal Netherlands Navy

Dr. Bas Buchner was President of MARIN (the Maritime Research Institute Netherlands) from 2011 to 2024. After studying Maritime Technology at Delft University of Technology, he started working there as Project Manager in 1991. In 2002, he obtained his PhD alongside his work at TU Delft on the topic of green water on ship-type offshore structures. He was a Visiting Professor at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. Under his leadership as President, the new MARIN Strategy ‘Better Ships, Blue Oceans’ was developed, aimed at sustainability and safety of shipping. He is one of the driving forces behind the ‘Maritime Masterplan’ for a net-zero maritime sector in The Netherlands. Bas Buchner is now Chairman of the Dutch Maritime Board and Program Director Maritime Uncrewed Systems of the Royal Netherlands Navy. For his work for the Dutch maritime sector, the King appointed him Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau in December 2024. He was also elected 'Alumnus of the Year 2024' by Delft University of Technology.