Damen Shipyards Galati News

This year sees a milestone moment for Damen Shipyards Galati in Romania as the yard marks 130 years of operation. Part of the Damen Shipyards Group since 1999, the Galati yard has been responsible for some of the company’s largest and most complex vessel deliveries to date.The Galati yard, on the banks of the Danube, first opened its gates in 1893. Beginning life as a mechanical construction and iron and bronze foundry, by 1897, it had gone into the ship repair business and was known as G. Fernic et Co Shipyard.

A pair of fully-electric road ferries are now on their way from Damen Shipyards Galati to Lake Ontario, Canada, to begin operations. Ordered by the Ministry of Transportation, Ontario, Canada, the Amherst Islander II and Wolfe Islander IV, 68 and 98 meters in length respectively, departed the yard on August 26 to be loaded on the semi-submersible transport vessel Super Servant 4 and will arrive in Lake Ontario in mid-September.Both of the open-deck vessels are equipped to be fully-electric…

BC Ferries’ new Island Class ferry arrived late last week in British Columbia, Canada, having departed Damen Shipyards Galati yard in Romania on May 19.The vessel, temporarily named Island 3, arrived under its own power, after a 64-day, approximately 10,700 nautical miles transatlantic journey. The Island Class are battery-equipped ships designed for future full electric operation. The ships are fitted with hybrid technology that bridges the gap until shore charging infrastructure and funding becomes available in B.C.

Damen Shipyards Galati performed the traditional keel-laying ceremony on June 2, 2021, for the Combat Support Ship (CSS) Den Helder for the Royal Netherlands Navy.The yard carried out the steel cutting for this new vessel in December last year, and following the keel-laying, all the building blocks for the actual construction of the ship in Romania are now ready. The next ceremonial milestone is the naming of the vessel, but not before the building of the ship is completed in 2023.

On May 15, Fratelli Neri held a naming ceremony for three Damen RSD Tugs 2513 in Livorno, Italy. Two of the vessels, named Romito and Calafuria were built at Damen Shipyards Galati and were delivered to Fratelli Neri at the end of 2019. Both of these tugs offer 70 tonnes bollard pull in the configuration tractor tug.The latest addition to the company’s fleet has been named Gabriella Neri, for the wife of Chairman Piero Neri. Damen built the vessel at Damen Song Cam Shipyard and delivered her in Livorno in January this year.

BC Ferries’ newbuild program continues with the launch of its fifth Island Class hybrid-electric ferries last Thursday at Damen Shipyards Galati in Romania. When in operation, the yet-to-be named vessel will be one of two assigned to the Nanaimo Harbor – Gabriola Island route.Work will continue on the new ferry until scheduled sea trials in June. Following sea trials, the vessel will be delivered to Point Hope Maritime in Victoria in late 2021 for final preparations. Two-ship service is scheduled to begin on the Nanaimo Harbour – Gabriola Island route by early 2022…

The Pakistan Navy commissioned its new Corvette PNS Tabuk at the Port of Constanta, Romania, on Thursday.The ship, a Damen OPV 1900, is part of a two vessel order with Damen, signed by the Pakistan Ministry of Defense in 2017. Both ships are built at Damen Shipyards Galati in Romania. The first vessel, PNS Yarmook, joined the Pakistan Navy’s fleet in February this year.Like her sister vessel, PNS Tabuk is a multipurpose, highly adaptable platform, capable of performing a wide variety of operations in a complex maritime environment.

Canadian ferry operator BC Ferries said its newest vessel, Island Aurora, officially entered service Thursday on the Port McNeill - Alert Bay - Sointula (Vancouver Island-Cormorant Island-Malcolm Island) route. This follows last week’s start of service for sister vessel Island Discovery on the Texada Island-Powell River run.The two new ferries are the first in the company’s new Island Class, based on Damen’s 81-meter Road Ferry 8117E3 design and built at Damen Shipyards Galati in Romania.

On February 19, BC Ferries held a naming ceremony for the first of its two Island Class Ferries at Victoria’s Point Hope Maritime. At the event, the names of the vessels – Island Discovery and Island Aurora – were revealed for the first time. The two ferries, based on Damen’s 81-meter Road Ferry 8117E3 design and built at Damen Shipyards Galati in Romania, will enter service mid-2020, serving the Powell River-Texada Island and Port McNeill-Albert Bay-Sointula routes respectively.The vessels sponsors were selected from the BC Ferries family  and the local communities.

The hull of 78-meter AMELS Full Custom yacht arrived from Damen Shipyards Galati on the Danube river in Romania.When completed in 2021, the yacht will be the largest AMELS to date.Currently 13 yachts are at the busy Vlissingen hub of the Damen Shipyards Group’s yachting division, including both the Vlissingen City yard and the Vlissingen East yard.The AMELS Full Custom yacht joins four AMELS Limited Editions yachts, two DAMEN SeaXplorers and five refits.In total we currently have 26 yacht projects underway at both our new build and hull building facilities. Completing all these projects requires expert project management and craftsmanship from everyone involved.In early January the hull of the 78-meter AMELS Full Custom project arrived for outfitting from the hull builder…

SCHOTTEL said it secured an order to provide propulsion units for four 81-meter hybrid-electric road ferries ordered by Canadian operator BC Ferries from Damen Shipyards Galati in Romania.Captain Jamie Marshall, Vice President, Business Development and Innovation at BC Ferries, said, “We’ve had positive experiences with SCHOTTEL azimuth thrusters in our Salish Class ferries, and opted for the German manufacturer for our Island Class as well. The propulsion system is efficient…

The Amherst Islander II, a Damen Road Ferry 6819 E3, was launched on November 14 at Damen Shipyards Galati in Romania.Amherst Islander II is part of a two vessel order that Damen will deliver to the Ministry of Transportation Ontario. The E3 ferries will be among the first passenger/car ferries in North America with the ability to operate fully electric and promise to reduce the amount of emissions by the equivalent of 7 million kg of carbon dioxide each year.With an overall length of close to 72 meters and a loading capacity of up to 42 cars, the Amherst Islander II is the smaller of the two.

Damen Shipyards Group has won a repeat order from B.C. Ferries for four additional Damen Road Ferries 8117 E3, also known as the “Island Class vessels”. The diesel-electric hybrid ferries follow two such vessels that the client ordered from Damen in 2017. The four new vessels will provide inter-island ferry services between Vancouver and Vancouver Island.“The fact that Damen had designed the original two island class ferries for BC Ferries, positioned us well to start building very quickly," said Leo Postma, Sales Manager, Damen.

The newly built Service Operation Vessel (SOV) “Bibby WaveMaster Horizon” is equipped with propulsion units from SCHOTTEL. Ordered by the British company Bibby Marine Services Ltd. and built at Damen Shipyards Galati, the vessel is driven by three rudderpropellers and two bow thrusters from the German propulsion expert. The new walk-to-work vessel is purpose-built for the transfer and accommodation of support and maintenance engineers at offshore wind farms.Maintaining wind turbines…

The second of Damen’s Accommodation Support Vessel (ASV) 9020 has been delivered to Bibby Marine Services at Damen Shipyards Galati in Romania. On her arrival in the North Sea, the Bibby WaveMaster Horizon will begin maintenance work off the coast of Germany on two EnBW and Enbridge-owned windfarms– Hohe See and Albatros – for Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy and EnBW.The 90-meter ASV 9020 was developed by Damen to meet the specific needs of the offshore renewable energy industry…

On October 3, 2019, Damen Shipyards Galati hosted a celebration marking the keel-laying of a Damen Marine Aggregate Dredger (MAD) 3500 for Hanson UK. The event was well attended by representatives of both Damen Shipyards Group and Hanson UK.The keel of the new MAD 3500 was laid at the Romanian yard a few days prior to the celebration, on September 20th. At this event, tradition was observed with the inclusion of four coins in the keel – a Romanian lei, a British pound, a Dutch guilder and a euro.The MAD is a new design from Damen that can dredge material at depths of up to -55 meters.

German propulsion manufacturer SCHOTTEL has delivered propulsion units for two 81-meter road ferries to Damen Shipyards Galati, Romania. Each of the newly built vessels ordered by Canadian operator BC Ferries will be equipped with two high-efficiency SCHOTTEL Twin Propellers. Once operational, they will serve the Northern Gulf Islands off the coast of Vancouver.Improving environmental stewardship“This class of vessels is very important for BC Ferries as it introduces a state-of-the-art…

The first of Damen’s new Marine Aggregate Dredger class, a 103.5 meter MAD 3500, has been launched at Damen Shipyards Galati (DSGa) in Romania. The vessel, to be named the CEMEX Go Innovation, is the result of close cooperation between CEMEX UK Marine and Damen and represents the first of a new generation of efficient and economical dredgers specializing in the extraction of sand and gravel from the seabed.The ceremony involved the full team from owner CEMEX UK Marine as well as representatives from Damen’s head office in Gorinchem…

In an important milestone in the build of the Antarctic Supply Research Vessel (ASRV) Nuyina for the Australian government’s Antarctic Division, Damen Marine Components (DMC) has completed the supply and installation of a number of critical systems. These had to be fabricated to exceptionally high standards to cope with the ice that the vessel will encounter in the Southern Ocean. DMC, under its Van der Velden Marine Systems brand, is responsible for the detail engineering and manufacturing of the rudder and steering gear system.The rudders in particular are unique.

A second service operations vessel for Bibby Marine Services has been launched and christened during a ceremony at Damen Shipyards Galati in Romania, the shipbuilder announced Friday.The new vessel, Bibby WaveMaster Horizon, will begin maintenance work on two EnBW and Enbridge-owned wind farms in the German North Sea – Hohe See and Albatros – for Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy and EnBW, upon delivery later this year.Damen said it developed the SOV 9020 vessel design through close consultation with the offshore renewables industry.

Damen Shipyards Galati has made provisional delivery of the 74-meter fishery research vessel Baía Farta to the Angolan Ministry of Fisheries. The vessel will remain in Galati until November, when she will set sail for Angola where the final delivery will take place.With a 1,600 km Atlantic coastline, the development of the domestic fishing industry is a priority of the Angolan government and it currently employs over 100,000 people in both commercial and artisanal fishing.The Baía Farta…

Shipbuilder Damen said it has floated out the Antarctic Supply Research Vessel (ASRV) RSV Nuyina currently under construction at Damen Shipyards Galati in Romania.The carefully executed procedure was achieved by raising the water level in the yard’s dry dock by six meters; a process taking two days to complete. Once afloat, the vessel was maneuvered 250 meters to a quayside berth where the ongoing construction and outfitting process will take place.Damen is building the 160-meter…

Damen Shipyards Galati has opened an exhibition in the Lower Danube University in the Romanian city of Galati, displaying an extensive collection of historical maritime memorabilia.The exhibition is part of the yard’s 125 year anniversary celebrations that began with the annual Shipbuilder’s Day festivities on 15 August.The exhibition opened on 1 September with a ceremony attended by numerous invited guests including Damen Shipyards Group Board President Jason Bronscheer and the mayor of the city of Galati, Ionut Pucheanu.Containing various items such as photographs, postcards, maps, books and other special pieces, the exhibition – open until 30 December – thus reflects the rich maritime heritage that has been grown at the yard since its founding in 1893.Some items…