Damen Shipyards Gorinchem and Afai Southern Shipyard in China have been contracted to build a 35 m ferry for Liuzhou Yinliu Hotel Management.
The 3508 ferry will be used for receiving both government and industry representatives for official meetings and sightseeing tours along the Liujiang River. Delivery is scheduled in the first quarter of 2013.
The DFe 3508, the first one of its kind, is specifically designed for this client and this application. It has a passenger capacity of 100 persons. The ferry is outfitted with a conference room, a VIP-room and spacious passenger rooms with extensive catering facilities.
According to Henk Grunstra, Product Director Fast Ferries at Damen in Gorinchem, the current newbuild is a good example of high quality euro-asian cooperation. “We are complementary to a high degree with our partners in China. From an early stage, Damen has been monitoring the development of Chinese shipyards and slowly we’ve started to cooperate with some of the best of them. In addition Damen was the first European shipbuilder with its own shipyard in China. Over the years Afai Southern’s production capacity and capability has grown. They match with Damen’s vessel designs and our approach to shipbuilding.”
The aluminum ferry has been designed by Damen Shipyards and will be built by Afai Southern. The two shipyards haved work in close cooperation since 2001 to build aluminium vessels - this has led to the two biggest aluminium vessels built in China - two 85m RoPax ferries delivered to Turkish ferry operator IDO.
