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At the Damen Naval yard in Vlissingen-Oost, work is under way on a special project: a steel sloop built by Scalda students following the Vocational Training Course (Beroepsbegeleidende Leerweg, BBL). All the aspiring welders and structural fitters have worked on the sloop over the past year. What was little more than a steel hull bottom in December 2025 has now grown into an almost complete boat. The 7.5-metre long, 2.5-metre wide sloop is expected to be ready to sail in June 2027.
Text: Eefje Koppers
Cees van Cadsand and Willem Huiszoon are two of students' supervisors.
The students are supervised by Senior Foreman Cees van Cadsand, Welding Supervisor Leo Dingemanse, Welder Johan Oosterling and Steel Hull Supervisor Arjen de Nooijer. They are proud of what their students have achieved, says Cees. “The students are very enthusiastic. They love it when they get to spend a day working on the sloop. We rotate them, because they can’t all work on it at the same time, but they all get the chance. Even the seven BBL students who started this year have all worked on the launch already.”
The students’ tasks vary depending on their specialisation and experience. While they work, they are guided by experienced production workers (and brothers) Willem and Johan Huiszoon. One of the most recent jobs was making small steel bollards, which will be fitted at various places on board for mooring. “The caps of the bollards were domed by hand with a small rounding hammer, exactly as it was done in the 1960s,” Cees explains. “That way we can also teach the students some traditional shipbuilding techniques and keep the old craftsmanship alive.”
“We teach the students some traditional shipbuilding techniques and keep the old craftsmanship alive.” Cees van Cadsand
BBL student Erik Veringa (18) uses a rounding hammer to shape the domed caps of the bollards.
Now that the steel work is largely finished, activities are shifting to the outfitting: the inboard engine, propulsion, propellers, rudders and pumps. “The hull is now far enough along that we can start on the finishing,” Cees says. “We’re going to figure all of that out ourselves too. We’ll make a step-by-step plan and then order the equipment. We occasionally call on our engineering department, but we do as much as possible ourselves.”
Before the sloop is put in the water next year, it will be tested with compressed air and soapy water to check that the vessel is watertight, but Cees isn’t worried about the outcome. “The Quality Control department has been involved throughout the project and has followed every step closely to safeguard quality. A number of welds still need to be made and inspected, but so far everything looks good.”
Almost finished: a bollard with its domed cap.
For now, the sloop still carries the working title ‘Brutus’, after the type of sloop the design is based on. But when it is christened next year, it will get a proper name and will have been finished beautifully, according to Cees. “It will get a perfectly smooth finish, which we’ll also do ourselves. And we want to instal a rope fender all the way around. The sloop has to become Damen Naval’s pride and joy!”
See more photos of the sloop’s construction to date below:
