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Dutch Caribbean News

20 Oct 2019

Damen, Maris Join Forces to Tackle Seaweed

Dutch shipbuilding giant and Maris Projects, a player in marine and oceanographic data management services,  have joined forces to tackle the issue of invasive Sargassum seaweed in the Caribbean region – including the Dutch Caribbean Islands.The partners are working towards the developments of a holistic solution. The work of the two companies is expected to greatly increase knowledge of bio-processing, leading to the design of efficient and scalable technologies with the capability to deliver both environmental and socio-economic benefits.A significant – and to date, inexplicable – rise in the quantity of Sargassum in Caribbean waters and along its shores, has been recorded in recent years. The weed is causing considerable problems in the region.

30 Jan 2019

Metal Shark Delivers New Patrol Boats in Aruba

A Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard AW139 helicopter flies above a Metal Shark 38 Defiant patrol boat following a commissioning ceremony in Aruba on January 23rd, 2019.

Four new high speed patrol boats manufactured by shipbuilder Metal Shark have entered service with the Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard (DCCG) on the island of Aruba.The vessels were commissioned into service with a ceremony on January 23rd at DCCG’s Station Aruba in the district of Savaneta on Aruba’s southeast coast. Among those present were officials from the Aruban government, Dutch Ministry of Defense, DCCG, and Metal Shark, as well as local and regional media outlets.The new…

10 Dec 2018

GREAT WORKBOATS: The Very Best 10 of 2018

MarineNews showcases the ten best of North America’s 2018 workboat deliveries. Domestic shipyard production is robust, innovative and getting greener. And, that translates into two kinds of ‘green.’As the domestic offshore energy support sector slowly awakens, other sectors have been happy to take the spotlight in its absence. As always, and if a hull was delivered in 2018, we took a look at it, with several areas as a focus for inclusion into this edition. For my part, I’m always excited when the U.S. boatbuilding sector can deliver for a foreign buyer. We’ve checked that box here. And, that’s because we can compete on price, quality and when we do…

07 Aug 2018

Venezuela Dodges Oil Asset Seizures with Export Transfers at Sea

Š Igor Groshev / Adobe Stock

Venezuela's state-run oil company PDVSA has limited the damage from an unprecedented slump in crude exports by transferring oil between tankers at sea and loading vessels in neighboring Cuba to avoid asset seizures.But the OPEC member nation is still fulfilling less than 60 percent of its obligations under supply deals with customers.Venezuela has been pumping oil this year at the lowest rate in three decades after years of underinvestment and a mass exodus of workers. The state…

25 Jun 2018

U.S. Yards: Competing – and Winning – Here and Across the Big Pond

Louisiana-based Metal Shark powers into the second half of 2018 with a healthy backlog, multiple recent deliveries into foreign markets, and a portfolio of patrol craft that has attracted multiple clients – here and abroad. Key patrol boat contracts for this rapidly expanding builder include the U.S. Coast Guard Response Boat – Small (RB-S). Over 300 of these units are service since the award of the contract in 2012 and, says Metal Shark, new units are in production and shipping weekly. Separately, over 50 of the U.S. Navy Force Protection Boat – Medium (FPB-M) have already been delivered and are in service. That contract, too, is still active and boats are shipping regularly. Looking ahead, Metal Shark was awarded a contract in October 2017 to produce up to 50 of the U.S.

20 Jun 2018

Metal Shark is Competing - and Winning - Here and Oversees

U.S. shipbuilder Metal Shark powers into the second half of 2018 with a healthy backlog, multiple recent deliveries into foreign markets, and a portfolio of patrol craft that has attracted multiple clients – here and abroad.At a time when more than a few workboat builders are feeling the pain of lingering offshore malaise and an oversupplied inland market that no longer needs large quantities of barges, Louisiana-based Metal Shark has found its groove in a suddenly active and highly competitive niche market. In fact, by the end of 2018, Metal Shark’s military vessels will be either in service or in production for nearly 50 countries across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, the Middle East, and Latin America.

10 May 2018

New Patrol Boats Delivered in Curacao

(Photo: Metal Shark)

Four new high-speed patrol boats commissioned on the island of Curacao are the first to be delivered to the Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard (DCCG) under a 12-boat order announced last year.The welded aluminum 38 Defiant monohull patrol boats were designed and manufactured by Louisiana based shipbuilder Metal Shark as the result of a multi-year effort by the DCCG to procure a replacement for its fleet of open-cockpit rigid-hulled inflatable boats (RIB).The new enclosed-pilothouse vessels will serve as the DCCG’s main interceptors, patrolling the territorial waters of Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, St.

29 Dec 2017

Best Workboats of 2017

Marine News showcases the best of North America’s 2017 workboat deliveries. There is something for everyone. Notwithstanding the lingering offshore energy downturn, there were plenty of bright spots for North American shipyards in 2017. If a hull was delivered in 2017, we took a look at it, with several areas as a focus for inclusion into this edition. For starters, it is always exciting when a domestic yard delivers a vessel – or multiple vessels, for that matter – to foreign buyers. We can compete in a foreign arena; on price, quality and on-time delivery. This year was no different. No less important is the environmental footprint of a vessel, and there was plenty to report on from that angle in the past 12 months. The domestic waterfront is indeed getting greener and cleaner.

14 Jun 2017

The Right Boat, Right Away

Metal Shark’s stock boats program shakes up the patrol boat game; here and across the big pond. If the news that Louisiana-based boatbuilder Metal Shark is ramping up production to build an inventory of stock vessels, with the goal of reducing lead times and enhancing service sounds familiar, but perhaps not on this side of the big pond, that’s because the move truly represents an innovative concept for North American builders. Savvy shipbuilding stakeholders everywhere, of course, know that Netherlands-based Damen has been doing it (successfully) for years. That kind of program, however, isn’t easily pulled off, nor should it be undertaken lightly.

04 Jan 2017

Metal Shark Makes Multiple Latin American, Caribbean Deliveries

Louisiana-based boatbuilder Metal Shark has announced several new contracts with Latin American and Caribbean operators, further expanding the company’s presence in the region. At a recent ceremony with Puerto Rico’s Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla in San Juan, the Puerto Rico Police Department (PRPD) officially commissioned its first three Metal Shark 36-foot Fearless-class center console patrol boats. The welded-aluminum offshore center console vessels have been designed to operate at speed in the large ocean swells prevalent off the Puerto Rican coastline. Featuring high performance ventilated stepped-bottom running surfaces and powered by triple 300-horsepower Mercury Verado engines, the PRPD’s new patrol boats achieve speeds up to 55 knots.

22 Nov 2015

USCG Offload $ 17 Mln Cocaine

Coast Guardsmen on the Coast Guard Cutter Bernard C. Webber offloaded approximately 515 kilograms of cocaine interdicted in the Caribbean Sea as part of Operation Caribbean Venture worth an estimated wholesale value of $17 million at Coast Guard Base Miami Beach, Florida, Friday. On November 15, a Joint Interagency Task Force South maritime patrol aircraft located a suspicious go-fast vessel with multiple packages aboard southeast of Isla Beata, Dominican Republic. The HNLMS Friesland, an offshore patrol vessel from the Royal Netherlands Navy, responded to the report and interdicted the vessel with four suspected smugglers and suspicious packages on deck. A U.S.

28 Mar 2015

Smoke: Cruise Ship Evacuates Passengers

A number of passengers and crew members were evacuated after smoke was spotted billowing from the front section of Carnival Liberty cruise ship docked in the Dutch Caribbean nation of St Maarten. Later the line stated that there was no fire, just an overheated bearing in the forward section. Officials say there were no reported injuries. “Guests from a small number of staterooms near the forward section of the ship were temporarily vacated from their cabins as a precaution while the shipboard teams were handling the situation,” company spokesman Vance Gulliksen said. He says the problem has been resolved. The ship is working on replacing the bearing. The ship’s safety systems and hotel services are functioning as normal as it was preparing to depart St. Maarten as scheduled.

27 Mar 2015

Lack of Ship Definition is a Threat to Investors

Haco van der Houven van Oordt

AKD says the lack of an unambiguous term to describe a ‘ship’ in several jurisdictions represents a potential threat to asset security for financiers, particularly in the offshore and renewable energy sectors. AKD partner Haco van der Houven van Oordt says, “In many jurisdictions, including the US and the UK, there appears to be no clear definition of a ship. A recent Tulane Maritime Law Journal study illustrated how a variety of floating objects which have no means of propulsion and/or ability to carry cargo or passengers cannot easily be registered as a ship.

22 Aug 2013

Fourth Damen Stan Patrol for Mexican Navy

Photo: Damen

In the first week of August the Mexican Navy (Secretaria de Marina) and Damen Shipyards Group signed a contract for a fourth Damen Stan Patrol 4207. The Dutch ship design and shipbuilding company will supply the Mexican Navy with the design and material package with which ASTIMAR 1 (the Mexican Navy yard in Tampico) will build the patrol vessel. In addition, Damen will assist ASTIMAR 1 with technical support in order to optimize the delivery time and quality of the vessel. The Damen Stan Patrol 4207 is designed to perform patrol duties in coastal areas and the economic exclusive zone.

23 May 2013

Third Damen Stan Patrol for Mexican Navy

Photo: Damen

The Mexican Navy contracted Damen Shipyards Group for the design and material package of a Damen Stan Patrol 4207, including technical assistance. Construction of the vessel will start in the summer of 2013 at ASTIMAR 1 (Tampico), one of the five naval shipyards of Astilleros de la Secretaría de Marina. The vessels are designed to perform patrolduties in designated areas. Other clients who operate similar vessels in the region include navies and coast guards of Jamaica, Barbados, the Dutch Caribbean, Honduras and the Canadian Coast Guard.