Damen Shipyards Group delivers 19-vessel order to German heavy lift company Combi Lift

Shipbuilding group Damen Shipyards has officially delivered on-time a complete 19-vessel order to AAS Amur Assets Shipping Limited, a joint venture set up by Combi Lift GmbH to support its role in the construction of the Amur Gas Processing Plant “Gazprom” 150 km from Russia’s border with China. The order is comprised of four Multi Cat 2608SD workboats, four Pusher Tugs 2612SD, seven Stan Pontoons 8916SD and four Side Floaters 8605SD, Damen said in a media release.

At the official handover ceremony at Damen Shipyards Gorinchem, the Multi Cats and Pusher Tugs were blessed by His Eminence Archbishop Elisey, Ruling Bishop of the Diocese of The Hague and the Netherlands of the Russian Orthodox Church. Mrs. Irina Tropina, wife of Sergey Tropin from the Russian operating company STAT, broke a bottle of champagne over the bow of one of the vessels. They were then loaded on to a heavy lift vessel at Rotterdam to make their way to the Russian port of De-Kastri on the Sea of Okhotsk, where they arrived at the beginning of May.

Meanwhile the 89-metre pontoons and 86-metre side floaters, which have been built at a Damen facility in China, departed Shanghai later in April, making their much shorter journey to De-Kastri to arrive at the same time as the Dutch consignment.

All the vessels have been customised to enable them to navigate the very shallow inland waters in which they will operate, especially the Zeya River. Reducing the weight where possible and stretching the length and beam has increased buoyancy and reduced draught, while raisable wheelhouses on the tugs will ensure clear views over extra-large cargos. The Side Floaters 8605SD will also play an important role in delivering lateral ballastable buoyancy to the Stan Pontoons, further minimising their draught when loaded with cargo.

On arrival, the fleet began its mission; playing an important role in moving a significant proportion of the 176,000 tonnes of equipment and material that Combi Lift is responsible for bringing to the site of the new gas processing plant. This includes some sizeable components such as 12 columns weighing 900 tonnes each.

“We appreciate Damen's professionalism, good teamwork and smooth handling of all production processes,” commented Heiko Felderhoff, CEO at Combi Lift. “A punctual and reliable delivery of the tugs was essential for the progress and success of this important project. We are very satisfied with the great teamwork and the quality of all the tugs”

Damen Sales Manager Remko Bouma added: “We really appreciated the order from Combi Lift. With the contract signed in June 2017 we had just ten months to construct the vessels but, through hard work, good project management and close cooperation between Damen and Combi Lift, the result has been highly satisfactory for all parties. By working closely together the teams from both organisations were always able to find the necessary solutions and, once again, Damen’s portfolio of standard designs has shown how flexible it can be when it comes to adaptation for specific needs and environments.”

Damen Shipyards Group operates 34 shipbuilding and repair yards, employing 10,000 people worldwide. Damen has delivered more than 6,000 vessels in more than 100 countries and delivers some 160 vessels annually to customers worldwide. Based on its unique, standardised ship-design concept Damen is able to guarantee consistent quality.

Damen’s focus on standardisation, modular construction and keeping vessels in stock leads to short delivery times, low ‘total cost of ownership’, high resale values and reliable performance. Furthermore, Damen vessels are based on thorough R&D and proven technology.

Damen offers a wide range of products, including tugs, workboats, naval and patrol vessels, high speed craft, cargo vessels, dredgers, vessels for the offshore industry, ferries, pontoons and superyachts.

For nearly all vessel types Damen offers a broad range of services, including maintenance, spare parts delivery, training and the transfer of (shipbuilding) know-how. Damen also offers a variety of marine components, such as nozzles, rudders, anchors, anchor chains and steel works.

Damen Shiprepair & Conversion (DSC) has a worldwide network of eighteen repair and conversion yards of which twelve are located in North West Europe. Facilities at the yards include more than 50 floating and (covered) drydocks, the largest of which is 420 x 90 metres, as well as slopes, ship lifts and indoor halls. Projects range from the smallest simple repairs through Class’ maintenance to complex refits and the complete conversion of large offshore structures. DSC completes around 1,300 repair and maintenance jobs annually, both at yards as well as in ports and during voyages.