Jan Van Hogerwou News

Louisiana-based shipbuilder Metal Shark said it has been awarded a contract worth up to $54 million from the U.S. Navy to build Near Coastal Patrol Vessels (NCPVs) for U.S. partner nations through the Department of Defense Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. Metal Shark’s proposal was selected by Naval Sea Systems Command from a field of six competing shipyards. Under the terms of the award, Metal Shark will build up to thirteen 85-foot Defiant-class welded aluminum cutters for the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Guatemala and other U.S. partner nations.

With familiar faces, new partnerships and Houston office, Damen widens its North American profile with a flurry of new work orders. With a flourish and a flurry of new business, Damen’s new U.S.-based office officially opened in Houston, Texas on July 1, 2016. Registered as Damen Area Support North America BV Co., it has been established to provide a local presence and work hand-in-hand with the North American market, offering a full range of ready built, standard and custom design vessels as well as the products and services of Damen Shipyards group ‘License to Build’ program.

Marine transportation provider and the United States’ largest operator of OSVs, Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO), has teamed up with Damen to build 13 heavy duty mooring assistance and escort tugs. The vessels will be built in the U.S. using ECO’s network of five shipyards with support from Damen under its Technical Cooperation program. The new tugs will be deployed on two major maritime projects for which ECO has recently won contracts. The first of these is a contract that ECO won earlier this year with a new Corpus Christi based LNG export terminal.

A keel-laying ceremony was held on August 10 at Great Lakes Shipyard in Cleveland, Ohio for 10 Damen Stan Tugs 1907 ICE. The new Ice Class vessels will be the first tugs to be designed and built to comply with the new Subchapter M Coast Guard regulations, and will be operated by the shipyard’s affiliate company, The Great Lakes Towing Company, replacing existing tonnage. Damen’s Houston-based manager for North America, Jan van Hogerwou, confirmed that under the license, Great Lakes Shipyard will receive full construction, design and engineering support from Damen.

Damen Shipbuilding Group has established a permanent presence in Houston, with the August 1 opening of a new office headed by senior managers Jan van Hogerwou (New Construction) and Ruud Haneveer (Ship Repair & Conversion). The move is part of Damen’s drive to expand its local footprint globally, bring it closer to current and prospective clients and enable a more responsive and personal service, according to the Dutch shipbuilder. Already, the first order to be handled by the new entity is for four new Damen 3711 Stan Tugs by Young Brothers…

Damen Shipyards Group has announced the opening of a new branch office in Houston, Texas. This expansion, under the name of Damen North America, meets the increasing demand for Damen’s shipbuilding concepts and repair and conversion services. The branch office – representing the Damen Shipyards Newbuild, and Damen Shiprepair & Conversion businesses across North America and Canada – has decided to open offices in the heart of the Energy Corridor of Houston. “Establishing an office…

Global towage operator Svitzer has signed a contract with the Damen Shipyards Group for four ATD 2412 tugs as part of Svitzer’s ongoing fleet renewal program. All four tugs are being built at Damen Song Cam Shipyard in Vietnam. Demonstrating the advantages to be gained from building vessels for stock, Damen is handing over the first two vessels just one month after contract signing. Svitzer has the first two tugs signed up for port towage operations at its Dominican Republic joint venture with Remolcadores Dominicanos.

The Damen 80-meter ice class RoPax ferry MV Veteran handover to the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador (GNL) took place in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada on October 23, 2015. Launched earlier this year by Damen Shipyards Galati in Romania on March 27, the vessel will start services from Fogo Island and Change Islands before the end of November. MV Veteran was delivered from the shipyard on time and within budget. MV Veteran is the first of a two-vessel contract, with a design stemming from a Canadian-Danish partnership between Fleetway and Knud E. Hansen.

Eighty-meter ice class Ro-Pax ferry MV Veteran was recently launched by Damen Shipyards Galaţi in Romania, the builder announced today. The vessel represents the first of a two-vessel contract, with a design stemming from a Canadian-Danish partnership between Fleetway and Knud E. Hansen. A video of the launch is available here. “We are working very hard to deliver these ferries on schedule and on budget,” said Damen Manager North America Jan van Hogerwou. The first vessel is scheduled for delivery to the province in the fall of this year and in early 2016.

In a keel laying ceremony attended by key client representatives, Damen Shipyards Galaţimarked the start of construction of two Platform Supply Vessels – PSV 5000 – for Canadian maritime services provider Atlantic Towing. The 90-metre vessels are part of a multiple vessel order thatincludes three identical supply vessels and one designed specifically for inspection, repair and maintenance duties. Atlantic Towing will mobilise all four vessels in North Atlantic oil fields off the Canadian coast. “These ships are designed to deal with the harsh environment of the Grand Banks,” explains Damen Manager North America Jan van Hogerwou. “Not only in terms of the task they will perform, but also concerning seakeeping characteristics.

U.S. firms leverage Netherlands-based Damen Shipyard’s vessel designs and technical support. For nearly 40 years, Damen Shipyards Group in the Netherlands has licensed its vessel designs and technical support to yards owned by other companies. The business practice showcases not only the depth, variety and strength of the Damen portfolio, but also the reputation and reliability of its designs. Since 1969, Damen Shipyards has delivered more than 5,000 vessels, typically averaging 160 vessel deliveries annually.

Trojan Marinex announced that Damen Shipyards have selected the Trojan Marinex Ballast Water Treatment (BWT) system for a fleet of Platform Supply Vessels (PSVs) it is building for Atlantic Towing Limited – a Canadian-owned marine transportation company. “It’s been an exciting year for us,” said Marv DeVries, president, Trojan Technologies. “Our entire product suite achieved IMO Type Approval in March, AMS acceptance in August, and we are on course for U.S. Coast Guard Type Approval.

Atlantic Towing (USA) has selected newly-designed, ice-strengthened PSV 5000 vessels from Damen Shipyards Group to meet its 10-year offshore support contract with ExxonMobil Canada Properties and Hibernia Management and Development Company Ltd. (HMDC). The vessels will operate in the sub-arctic waters of the Hibernia and Hebron oil fields, off Newfoundland and Labrador. ATL will take delivery of four PSV 5000 vessels, one of which will be equipped for inspection, repair and maintenance duties.

This second order, placed by the Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Government, is for an identical vessel to one ordered from Damen a few weeks ago, but this ferry will be deployed between Bell Island and Portugal Cove-St. Philip's. Scheduled for delivery in February 2016, the 14-knot Ro-Ro ferry will be able to carry up to 200 passengers and 60 vehicles. According to the shipbuilders, the investment in the new ferry is part of the Government’s vessel renewal programme and will expand capacity on the route by replacing the MV Beaumont Hamel.

The Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Government has awarded Damen Shipyards Group an order for a state-of-the-art, 80 m Ice Class ferry, which will operate on the Fogo Island-Change Islands service. Scheduled for delivery in September 2015, the 14-knot ro-ro ferry will be able to carry up to 200 passengers and 60 vehicles. The investment in the new ferry is part of the Government’s vessel renewal program. She will replace the aging MV Captain Earl Winsor. Fifteen proposals were received in response to the Government's request for proposals for the construction of new ferry vessels.