Page 57: of Marine News Magazine (August 2019)

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FEATURE: OFFSHORE EXCELLENCE

The growth of a new industry (wind) and the impending resurgence of an established one (oil and gas) present opportunities for companies operating in the

United States’ offshore sector.

By Eric Haun

DAMEN the Ubiquitous

With 36 shipbuilding and repair yards sprawled across several continents and some 6,500 vessels of various types delivered globally, the Netherlands-based Damen Ship- yards Group is nothing if not ubiquitous.

Although the shipbuilding conglomerate does not phys- ically build in the United States, it has been selling into the

American market for years through cooperative relation- ships with US shipyards that have the capacity to build its designs, most notably with the National Security Cutter (NSC) and Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC) hulls for the US

Coast Guard.

Damen, which established an of? ce in Houston in 2016 to offer its brand of shipbuilding concepts and repair and conversion knowhow on the American market, is now in the midst of its latest push to meet a speci? c pocket of growing demand stateside: namely a new ? eet of vessels to support the burgeoning US offshore wind market.

Having employed its standardized ship-design concepts in the European offshore wind industry for many years,

Damen has built up a portfolio of proven designs for off- shore wind farm services, including vessels designed for construction, installation and cable-lay operations, as well as crew transfer and operations and maintenance.

A pair of Damen vessels being marketed to the US off- shore wind market are the 27-meter and 34-meter versions of the Fast Crew Supplier (FCS), featuring Damen’s Twin

Axe bow design, which combines the Axe Bow with a cata- maran hull. The FCS 2710 and FCS 3410 offer respective capacity to transport 24 up to 80 technical personnel to offshore wind sites.

Ampelmann’s A-type gangway system operating on the

Harvey Blue Sea vessel in the Gulf of Mexico.

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