Bureau Veritas Boosts Dutch Maritime Innovation
International classification society Bureau Veritas said it is boosting innovation and sustainability in partnership with Dutch owners, builders and designers. Jan Smit, Senior Vice President and head of the North Europe & North America Zone of BV’s Marine & Offshore Division, said, “BV was founded in the Low Countries and is a core part of the Dutch maritime industry which is pushing ahead with innovative designs focusing on operational excellence and energy efficiency. We are helping yards and owners to invest in ships which are cleaner and more economical to operate.
Feature: Dutch Treat
For many years Houma Fabricators, Houma, La. built passenger boats, offshore boats and other steel hulled vessels much like a dozen other shipyards in the Gulf south. In the mid-90's they built several large gaming boats for Iowa entrepreneur Bob Kehl. If you hadn't stopped by Houma Fabricators for the past two years, today you would not recognize the place. Purchased by Shipyard De Hoop of the Netherlands in 2001, the shipyard has undergone an amazing transformation with an $8.6 million expansion. The Dutch shipyard is turning the 42-acre Houma site into a shipyard to resemble the company's main facility in Lobith, Netherlands. " So far we have added three steel preparation halls, four subassembly halls, new slipways with bulkheads and a permanent launching system," said O.M.
Building Candies High-Performance Boats
One of the first companies to offer offshore supply services in the Gulf of Mexico was Otto Candies. His vision has endured and today the company is expanding its fleet rapidly through a second and a third generation of Candies executives. In the new millennium, Otto Candies LLC, Des Allemands, La., has embarked on a very aggressive new building program that has seen the delivery of three 150-ft. by 50-ft. anchor handling tugs, three state of the art 240-ft. diesel/electric supply boats and now a series of six 185-ft. by 42-ft. supply boats also with diesel electric propulsion and dynamic positioning capabilities. The three 150-ft. tugs and the three supply boats were built by Bender Shipbuilding and Repair, Mobile, Ala. For five of the six 185-ft.
