Mijndert Wiesenekker News

Damen Shipyards Group is celebrating the success of Multraship and its innovation arm Novatug in winning the Maritime KVNR Shipping award 2018.

Kotug Smit Towage has taken four newly-built Damen tugs into service for its European harbour towage activities, in 2017 and 2018. One of this quartet, the Southampton is currently operating in the Port of Zeebrugge.The Southampton is an ASD Tug 2913 and has a bollard pull in excess of 80 tonnes. The tug is renowned for its manoeuvrability and environmentally efficient performance. The naming ceremony of the tug Southampton was performed by Lady Sponsor Mrs. Ariane Labargue, the spouse of Mr. Rik Goetinck, Vice President of the Port of Zeebrugge (MBZ).Kotug Smit’s General Manager Scheldt Area, Geert Vandecappelle: “As a token of our appreciation for the many years of cooperation between MBZ and Kotug Smit Towage…

Two of Iskes Towage’s vessels, the Damen ASD Tugs 3212 Mars and Mercurius, have been officially named at a ceremony held at IJmuiden Port, Amsterdam.The naming formed part of an event held to mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of Iskes Towage & Salvage, which was formed by Ben Iskes, the father of current owner Jim Iskes, in 1968.The Mars was named by Elisabeth Post, Deputy for Transport and Traffic for the Province of North Holland, and the Mercurius by Miss Annick Vergouwen, daughter of managing director Ronald Vergouwen.The celebrations were also attended by Iskes staff, clients and many other associates who have worked alongside the company over the years.

Iskes Towage & Salvage, the leading maritime service provider based in the port of IJmuiden, Amsterdam, has taken delivery of two Damen ASD Tugs 2810. The vessels were built at Damen Song Cam Shipyards, Vietnam, and delivered last year to Damen Shipyards Gorinchem, the Netherlands, as part of the group’s strategy to position stock vessels for rapid availability in Europe. This on-demand availability was a significant factor in Damen winning the contract, with both tugs being delivered within two weeks of the contract being signed. Named Phoenix and Lynx, the tugs are essentially standard versions of this best-selling model. 28-metres in length, they have a bollard pull of 60 tonnes, a top speed of 13 knots, and excellent manoeuvrability and seakeeping.

With its latest newbuild order, Kotug Smit Towage will bring the total number of Damen-built tugs operating in its fleet of 69 to 22. The European harbor towage services provider has ordered a trio from Damen Shipyards Group, including two 80 metric ton bollard pull ASD Tugs 2913 (including one with firefighting capabilities) and a 70 metric ton bollard pull ATD Tug 2412 Twin Fin. Kotug Smit Towage CEO, René Raaijmakers, said the three new tugs will support the company’s growth in the U.K.

Damen Shipyards Gorinchem, which is also the headquarters of the Damen Shipyards Group, opened its doors to customers and industry partners alike for the first Damen Workboat Festival. More than 200 guests arrived for the one-day event, taking the opportunity to inspect a wide range of Damen vessels and experience some of them out on the water. The vessels on display included Multi Cats, a wide range of Stan Tugs, high-speed RHIBs, Pilot boats, Fast Crew Suppliers, fast Patrol Boats and pontoons.

Iskes Towage & Salvage took delivery of a new Damen ASD 2411 in November 2015. In its first 100 days, the tug has been performing vessel assistance duties in the locks and canals around the Dutch Ports of Amsterdam and IJmuiden. Three months after delivery of the Venus, the captain and crew give their comments about the new member of the fleet. Home to a cross-section of industries, the two ports see a wide variety of vessel types and sizes. For Iskes Managing Director Jim Iskes, combining power with minimal dimensions was an important factor.

Three months after its last delivery, Fugro has received the third of a series of three Fugro Offshore Coastal Survey Vessels (FOCSV) being built by Damen on December 12, 2014. Like her sisters, Fugro Frontier is a compact, diesel-electric FOCSV designed for a variety of tasks. However, Fugro Frontier has benefited from tailoring to the conditions she will meet in its chosen market off the coast of Africa. All three have an advanced design capable of taking on geotechnical work, environmental baseline surveys, moon pool deployment plus monitoring and inspection duties.

Iskes Towing & Salvage has taken delivery of a Damen ASD 3212 tug named Mercurius. To date the Netherlands-based tug operator’s fleet now includes three Damen builds, all built in the last four years. “We used the same leasing option (with Damen) with the Argus,” said Ronald Vergouwen, MD, Iskes Towing & Salvage. “After 18 months we bought the vessel outright. The financing process takes much longer than in the past. Making a quick purchase, which is sometimes needed to pursue an opportunity, is almost impossible.

Smit Lamnalco has contracted Damen to build a new, shallow draught ASD Tug2810, the design of which illustrates the cooperative relationship between the two companies. The tug is set to expand Smit Lamnalco’s oil and gas terminal support services in Novorossiysk, on the Russian Black Sea coast. The contract specifies for the standard 2810 design in all but one key aspect – the vessel’s draught will have to be reduced to 4.5 meters due to the shallow working depths in the field of operation in Novorossiysk.

The new build “ZP Bulldog” and her sister tug “ZP Boxer” christened by family of the two General Managers of Schleppreederei KOTUG GmbH. Both ceremonies were held at the tug boat station in the Port of Hamburg with shareholders, members of the board and employees and their family in attendance. The new buildings belong to the “Azimuth Tractor Drive 24/ 12 Twin Fin” series from Damen Shipyards and show with just 24 meter l.o.a. and 12 meter breadth a distinctive compact design. With two fore propulsion units and two “Twin Fins”, both tug boats demonstrate high course stability.