Herman Senior Orders Damen Workboat

The Dutch family-owned tug and workboat company Herman Senior BV has ordered its 12th Damen vessel, a Multi Cat 2712. Given the very short delivery time, the new vessel will be officially launched and christened Panda on March 23. Herman Senior has a tradition of naming its ships after famous bears.

Based in Dordrecht, Herman Senior serves the dredging market, offshore wind farms and the oil and gas industry, with services including towage, plough dredging, anchor handling, geotechnical services, diving support and salvage and anchor recovery, among others.

Jack van Dodewaard, Herman Senior Managing Director, commented, “The new Multi Cat 2712 has the big advantage that she is suited for deepsea work and can sail worldwide under her own keel. At the moment we have our vessels in Latin America, Australia, the Middle East, North Africa and Europe so this new addition will add to our flexibility. “Our current Damen Multi Cat ‘Yogi’ has a working limit of 30 miles offshore. She has been active in South America for three years so in the first instance we had to go to the expense of transporting her over there.”

Coupled with this, Damen is aiming for a delivery of just four weeks so the Panda will be ready for her first project, he added.

The Multi Cat 2712 has a bollard pull of 32 metric tons and two 290 metric tons/meters cranes on board with a lifting capacity of 11.5 metric tons at 16.5 meters, so is suitable for a wide range of tasks. Panda is largely a standard Damen vessel, which has been built for stock, although some extra navigational equipment has been added.

van Dodewaard stressed, “Although we have a long history together, if Damen didn’t deliver the quality and service levels we expect, then we would look for another shipyard. A major advantage is that Damen understands our specific requirements. The drawings are automatically adapted each time and updated for the next vessel.”