A new, temporary exhibition was opened at the National Towage Museum in Maassluis, The Netherlands, on Saturday 2 December.
The exhibition is called ‘From Man-pulled to Unmanned’ and celebrates the evolution of towage. The history of towage begins with the so-called ‘jagen’ (or "hauling" in English), the towing of boats by men or horses. In the 17th century the Netherlands had an extensive waterway network with towing paths for regular tow-boat services. For- and aft rigged sailing boats were used to tow large square rigged cargo ships from the roads into the various Dutch ports. Steam engines and, later, diesel engines changed all of this. Soon after the introduction of steam engines in ships the first towage services were established, an industry for which the Dutch would become famous throughout the world.
In the 20th century the technology of towing evolved rapidly with innovations for propulsion, engine power and towing equipment. The Netherlands have always been, and still are, at the forefront of new developments where towage is concerned. This is demonstrated by the fact that we are heavily involved in the newest experiments with unmanned ships.
The exhibition illustrates the evolution of towage using many photographs, ship models, original documents and special objects. A section of the exhibition is specifically devoted to the life of crews on board tugs and how this changed substantially over time.
The opening of the exhibition was performed by Mr Gaby Steentjes, Senior Project Manager Maritime Research Institute of the Netherlands (MARIN).
The exhibition “From Man-pulled to Unmanned” is to be visited at the National Towage Museum in Maassluis, The Netherlands from 2 December 2017 until 27 May 2018.
For information and opening hours visit www.nationaalsleepvaartmuseum.nl.
Note to editors: for further information about the exhibition, please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , +31 (0)10 – 5912474 or Maarten Helwig, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , +31 (0)6-33008733.
If you are interested in the full exhibition guide (stated in the Dutch language), please open the link below:
