The Combat Support Ship (CSS) Den Helder that Damen Naval is building for the Royal Netherlands Navy will be equipped with two advanced Totally Enclosed Lifeboats. These Totally Enclosed Lifeboats of PALFINGER MARINE can accommodate no less than one hundred and sixty people. They are nothing like the open lifeboats you used to see on sea-going vessels. The Totally Enclosed Lifeboats have a (diesel) engine on board and can easily reach a speed of 6 knots (over 11 km per hour).

Martin van de Braak (left) and Erwin van Zanten. Martin van de Braak (left) and Erwin van Zanten.

Martin van de Braak and Erwin van Zanten, area sales managers at PALFINGER MARINE, are very proud that their company can supply these boats. PALFINGER MARINE has had a relationship with Damen Naval for years; the company from Schiedam also supplied the lifeboats for HNLMS Karel Doorman. “Totally Enclosed Lifeboats of the same design as on the Karel Doorman will be installed on the Den Helder,” says Martin. “We also supply the launching stations, or davits, with which the lifeboats can be launched from the Den Helder,” adds Erwin.

A Totally Enclosed Lifeboat is not just any lifeboat. “It is 8.5 metres long, almost 3 metres wide and over 3 metres high,” explains Martin. “The two boats can accommodate a maximum of eighty people each. Because they are fully enclosed boats, with doors in them, you are dry, and, in that way, you can survive several days at sea. But they are also electrically lit, so you are not in the dark, and the boats each have a survival kit on board with fresh water, flares and medication for seasickness.”

Martin and Erwin explain that the Totally Enclosed Lifeboats will be installed on the new navy vessel during the final phase of construction next year. That will be shortly before the sea trials. The boats will be delivered from Asia towards the end of the year. The davits will be installed on the supply ship earlier, namely at the end of September, after delivery from the factory in Eastern Europe where they are produced. The two Totally Enclosed Lifeboats comply with strict requirements set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) for launch and recovery systems on sea-going vessels. Thanks to a system of stored power, the lifeboats can even be hoisted overboard and lowered into the water if all the systems on board have failed (dead ship).
In addition to the two lifeboats and the davits, PALFINGER MARINE is also supplying two large rotating cargo cranes for the new ship. These will be delivered by the Norwegian branch of the company.

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