The "ocean tribute" Award has been presented annually at boot in Düsseldorf since 2018. Prominent award winners such as Boris Herrmann and well-known laudators like Hannes Jaenicke or Dirk Steffens as presenter testify to the exceptional attention paid to the award. The prize is sponsored by the Prince Albert II Foundation, the German Marine Foundation, boot Düsseldorf and seabob, a manufacturer of electric sea scooters. The winner will receive €20,000 in prize money and the attention of the international boot community at the award ceremony on 22 January at the blue motion night at the fair. Projects that promote the protection of waters and oceans with promising technologies and ideas are in demand. For example, the focus can be on reducing the amount of waste or combating the acidification of the oceans. Research projects that develop sustainable management and thus contribute significantly to the protection of marine and coastal ecosystems or increase fish stocks again in the future are also in demand.

A jury of experts from business, science and society will review the effectiveness and feasibility of the entries and select five nominees. These will be presented with their projects on the award website and will be available for the boot fans to vote for in the subsequent public voting.

In addition to Herrmann and his Malizia team, previous winners of the award include Innovation Yachts with a sustainable catamaran powered by solar energy, HelioRec with its floating solar power plants for marinas and the Coral Sea Foundation, which trains Melanesians in diving and marine biology studies. "The ocean tribute has become a prestigious and highly regarded award. We have applications and winners from all over the world. This shows that the message for ocean protection that boot and its partners want to bring to the world with the award is also being heard. I am already very excited about this year's nominees", explains Petros Michelidakis, Director of boot Düsseldorf. Among the community in the boot.club, the fair will raffle off a participation for two persons in the blue motion night and a Meet&Greet with the winner of the "ocean tribute" 2024 in December.