Damen delivers in ‘bulk’

Those terms took on a whole new meaning on the 4 April when the semi-submersible heavy-lift ship Zhen Hua 29 arrived in Rotterdam. It had left China seven weeks earlier carrying 13 new Damen Stan Pontoons, six Stan Tugs and four Stan Tenders bound for West Africa and Rotterdam.

The built-for-stock pontoons and other vessels will uphold Damen’s ultra-short delivery times as demand rises – 170 deliveries were made in 2013. That demand has also led to Damen introducing newly designed barges and completing a number of custom pontoon and barge projects.

Damen has sold 37 pontoons and barges in the last two years. Production has increased with an even larger amount of vessels currently under construction at four different yards in the Middle East, Vietnam and China. Following strong demand for last year’s shipment of pontoons and barges delivered to Rotterdam, this new shipment of built-for-stock vessels ensures continuous availability in Western Europe and North America.

On the journey from Shanghai, the semi-submersible vessel also had room to transport a further six Stan Tugs and four Stan Tenders. Before reaching Europe, the ship stopped in West Africa to deliver a number of pontoons and tugs, which had already been sold to repeat clients while the vessel was en-route.

The shipment carried eight different models from the range of high quality Stan Pontoons, including Damen’s largest built-for-stock pontoon measuring 120 x 32.2 x 8.1m, which has a deadweight of 20150 tonnes.

Following last year’s shipment, a built-for-stock vessel of the same model was sold to the McKeil-Malaspina partnership to support offshore construction operations off the East coast of Canada. All Damen pontoons are fully ballastable and the majority is already fitted with a ballast system. The vessels are prepared for the plug & play installation of pumps and generator sets and can be commissioned within a very short time.

In addition to its stock-building programme, Damen completes custom-designed one-off projects that can literally be built anywhere. Current examples include an 80m Crane Barge and a 140m module offloading facility transition pontoon. In close cooperation with the client Damen designs, constructs and delivers built-for-purpose projects.

Damen recently introduced a new standard range of Bunker Barges. The range is optimised for short delivery times and can easily be equipped with plug & play options. They can be towed or operated in combination with a specially designed Pusher Tug.

Another new design, the Trans-shipment Crane Barge 6324 with a Liebherr CBG 350 crane, is also available as of now. Developed in close cooperation with Liebherr, the barge is for the transshipment of containers or dry-bulk materials. It is perfect for ship-to-shore, ship-to-barge or ship-to-quay operation and has a maximum turnover of up to 1,000 tonnes per hour.

By Jack Gaston