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“It was a pleasure to be back with our number-five vessel, VOS Stone, for completion prior to entering the
market. It was great to see the various teams working together in such a smooth and professional manner. This
yard has again reached a high standard when it comes to timely and efficient cooperation between owner and
yard.”
VOS Stone has been purpose-built to support offshore operations in the Renewable industry and walk-to-work
projects in the Oil & Gas industry. The vessel has already been awarded a contract by VBMS, a subsidiary of
Royal Boskalis to support inter-array cabling operations at the Arkona Offshore Windfarm, located in the Baltic
Sea off the coast of Germany, during the first half of next year. In summer 2018, the vessel will undertake
operations for EON, working on commissioning of the
wind turbines at the same Windfarm.
NEW DAMEN TUG FOR FRENCH GUYANA
Damen Shipyards Hardinxveld has delivered an ASD Tug
2310 SD (shallow draught), named Papillon, to De Boer
Remorquage SARL, a subsidiary company of Dutch
Dredging (Baggerbedrijf De Boer) and Iskes Towage &
Salvage. Damen has customised the ASD for a 12-year
contract with Grand Port Maritime de Guyane in the ports
of Cayenne and Kourou in French Guyana.
The tug’s primary function will be the assistance of
vessels entering and leaving the ports. She can also
provide emergency assistance, such as fire-fighting,
survey activities and small transports. Additionally, the vessel is built under French flag rules, ready for
operation in the French overseas department.
The ASD has been designed to meet the requirements of the end client – Grand Port Maritime de Guyane –
which contributed to the design with its own consultant, Hydro GC. The ASD Tug is Damen’s first delivery to
Dutch Dredging, though Iskes Towage & Salvage has a number of Damen vessels in its fleet.
Managing Director of Damen Shipyards Hardinxveld Jos van Woerkum said: “The collaboration with all
parties during the design and construction of this vessel has been excellent. Working together closely, we have
been quickly able to identify the full scope of requirements and turn the versatile Damen ASD 2310 SD design
into something that exactly meets the needs of the end user. We wish De Boer Remorquage SARL and Grand
Port Maritime de Guyane every success with Papillon.”
In a statement, the Managing Directors of Dutch Dredging and Iskes Towage said, “Due to the extensive
demands of the contract, Damen had to cope with some tough challenges during construction in order to meet
all requirements and limitations. It has certainly not always been easy, but they managed to meet every
challenge and delivered a vessel that perfectly matches our and our clients’ requirements. We are also pleased
that during the entire construction process a very good cooperation with all other parties involved – our client
Grand Port Maritime de la Guyane, their maritime experts Earthcase and Hydro GC as well as the French
maritime authorities Direction de la Mer and the French customs office – has led to a smooth delivery of the
vessel.”
Joining Papillon in French Guiana later this year, will be a WID 2915 Hybrid Tug. Damen is configuring the
vessel with dredging capabilities using the air and water injection dredging method (AIRSET). Following
delivery, both vessels will undergo an official naming ceremony in French Guyana.
MARINE AGGREGATE DREDGER ORDER
CEMEX UK Marine Limited has signed a contract with the Damen Shipyards Group for the delivery of the first
Damen Marine Aggregate Dredger (MAD). The vessel, which will be built at Damen Shipyards Galati, in
Romania, is designed to extract sand and gravel from the sea bed up to depths of 55m, including in the
challenging conditions experienced in the North Sea.
The MAD is the result of extensive market research and customer consultation. A new, future-facing vessel
of this type is aligned with an aggregate industry faced with an aging fleet of vessels and an increased focus on
marine activity.
CEMEX UK is a leader in the building materials industry with over 3,000 employees, supplying aggregates,
cement, concrete and other building solutions. The company has a pre-existing relationship with Damen,
having utilised the service of Damen Shiprepair Amsterdam for maintenance of their vessels. When
approaching Damen, the client had a clear set of requirements, as Laurence Dagley, Director CEMEX UK Marine
explains: “We wanted a cutting-edge design, something for the 21st century with all the safety, efficiency,
environmental and on board comfort credentials this implies. Achieving a maximum uptime within what can be
a challenging working environment is also important to us. Damen accepted the challenges that we gave them,
delivering a robust yet innovative design that demonstrates the combined experience and ingenuity of our
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