Shipbuilder in Focus: DAMEN
With nearly three dozen shipyards spattered across the globe, Damen Shipyards Group based in the Netherlands is one of the world’s most active shipbuilders. Maritime Reporter & Engineering News examines the flurry of activity perpetuated by the shipbuilding and repair conglomerate.The Damen Shipyards Group reported a turnover of €2 billion in 2017, a year in which it delivered 165 newbuilds, including 64 tugs and workboats, five offshore vessels, 40 high-speed craft and ferries, 12 pontoons and barges, 23 dredging and specialty vessels, 16 vessels for defense and security and five yachts.
UK's New $4.2 Bln Aircraft Carrier Has a Leak
Britain’s biggest ever warship, the new 3.1 billion pound ($4.2 billion) aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, has a leak and needs repairs, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said on Tuesday. The 65,000-tonne ship is hailed as Britain’s most advanced military vessel and was only commissioned by the queen two weeks ago but it has a problem with a shaft seal that was identified during sea trials, the MoD said. “Sea trials are precisely for finding manageable teething problems like this and rectifying them,” a Royal Navy spokesman said.
Sperry INBS for New Aircraft Carrier
Northrop Grumman Corporation was selected to provide a new-generation integrated navigation and bridge system (INBS) for the UK Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) Future Aircraft Carrier (CVF) project. The initial INBS design-phase contract was awarded to Northrop Grumman’s Sperry Marine business unit by the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, the industrial alliance that, in the manufacture phase of the project, will include the planned Joint Venture between VT Group and BAES (including BAES Marine and BAES Integrated System Technologies), Babcock Support Services Ltd, Thales Naval and MOD. The INBS will be based on Sperry Marine’s VisionMaster FT technology and will bring together all of the ships’ navigation sensors and systems into a modern…
BAE-VT Shipbuilding JV Approved
Britain's BAE Systems (BAES.L) and VT Group (VTG.L) won permission from the European Commission on Wednesday to merge their shipbuilding operations, according to a Reuters report. BAE will hold 55 percent and VT the remainder, and the deal will involve BAE selling its 50 percent stake in Flagship Training Ltd to VT for up to $152.6m. The Commission noted that the two companies had not bid against each other in the design or building of a naval surface ship in the past decade, and so there was no problem with the venture. [Source: Reuters]
