The Saipem 7000 undergoing a major upgrade of its dp system at Damen Verolme Rotterdam. (Photograph: Damen)
PLENTY OF WORK FOR YARDS AND SUPPLIERS by Paul Schaap, PAS Publicaties
Just like the large offshore contractors, Dutch yards and suppliers are also active all round the world. Through constant innovation and investment in new ship types, technologies and products, year in year out they manage to stay ahead of the international competition. As a result, the export market is of crucial importance for these companies, who are willing to take the risk to spread their wings, ever further. An impressive series of examples. In 2018 there was news to report from the Damen Shipyards Group. A new model was added to its Fast Crew Supplier (FCS) range, the Damen FCS 2710. The design for this type of aluminium catamaran is based on the highly successful Damen FCS 2610, of which more than forty have been built since it was introduced in 2011. The first FCS 2710 was handed over in July 2018 to the British operator High Speed Transfers based in Swansea, Wales. The catamaran was christened HST Hudson, on 3 July, during the Seawork International trade fair in Southampton. The same operator ordered a second and third vessel of the type FCS 2710 shortly afterwards. 32
NETHERLANDS SUPPLIERS CATALOGUE 2019
This new pair will be christened HST Sofia and HST Harri, and are due to be handed over in 2019. Another milestone was achieved in March 2018 when a Damen FCS 5009, operating in the Gulf of Guinea, was equipped with an Ampelmann L-type gangway system. Damen’s first Service Operations Vessel (SOV) Bibby Wavemaster 1 has also proven highly successful. Since she was commissioned in September 2017, this 90 metre-long vessel has been deployed in both the British and Dutch sectors of the North Sea on behalf of the oil and gas industry and the offshore wind energy sector. The Offshore Support Journal presented the owner of the Bibby Wavemaster 1 the
