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Except for an ever-shrinking residual points list, the combined Midlife Update and the third Appointed Maintenance of the Johan de Witt is almost completed. At the same time, the finish line is in sight for Damen Naval on the hull construction project for Damen Yachting.
HNLMS Johan de Witt is (almost) finished with her MLU
HNLMS Johan de Witt is ready for her first sea trials following the extensive Midlife Update carried out by Damen Naval with assistance from Damen Shiprepair Vlissingen and Den Helder. “We formally handed in all our documentation for the delivery of the project on 28 July, just before the company shutdown,” says Project Director Fer Tummers. “That documentation included a residual points list, the so-called certificate of conformity for COMMIT’s quality assurance department, and the final performance statement on the basis of which we can send the final invoice.”
The residual points list consists mainly of many small, aesthetic points such as some painting, furniture repairs and skirting boards, but the team is finishing these at a rapid pace. Fer: “There is nothing that hinders the operation of the ship although the Ministry of Defence itself still has the necessary residual points. Hard work is now being done to get ready for sea trials.”
Commissioned in 2007, the Landing Platform Dock (LPD) arrived in Vlissingen in March 2022 for a combination of the third Appointed Maintenance (BO-3) and Midlife Update. The scope of the project was extensive and was extended with further work during the project at Ministry of Defence’s request. In April this year, Johan de Witt relocated from Vlissingen to Den Helder and work continued.
HNLMS Johan de Witt will go on sea trials this autumn and will then be returned to service.
Looking back on the project, Fer is satisfied with how things went. “We spent four months in Den Helder with a nice team of people from Damen Naval. The cooperation with Damen Shiprepair Den Helder went well and we made great use of their expertise and personnel.” He added: “The Ministry of Defence is fortunately also satisfied with the turnaround. They are so happy with our commissioning department that they have hired our commissioning engineers Wim Roest, Richard van de Zande and John Deurloo until the end of the year to assist the crew.”
The three engineers will help the crew bring the ship to life and start up all systems on board. “They can help with any malfunctions, help the new crew with familiarisation of the systems and help with completing the work that the Ministry does itself. It has been a very special project and we have fortunately managed to bring it (almost) to a good result,” Fer concludes.
The stern tubes have been installed and aligned on the YN 478 project.
YN 478: now in the hands of Damen Yachting
Up until the summer break, coordination of the YN 478 hull construction project for Damen Yachting was the responsibility of Damen Naval. However, the project has progressed to a point where Damen Yachting has officially taken the reins of the vessel that is taking shape at Vlissingen-Oost.
“Damen Yachting can now get working on the compartments that we have handed over to them – getting started on their outfitting activities like insulation and the interiors of the crew compartments,” states Damen Naval’s Production Coordinator Stan Haag. “We are very much still involved though as we are still working on a number of compartments in the hull.”
The vital central corridor is ready for handover.
In the early stages of the project, Stan referred to the construction of the hull in terms of sections. The YN 478 hull is composed of a total of 13 steel sections (this doesn’t include the aluminium superstructure, which was built by Bloemsma Aluminium). Now however, the ship is thought of in terms of compartments separated by decks and bulkheads. “We are working through the ship compartment by compartment finishing off our work,” adds Stan. One such compartment is the corridor, which is the technical ‘aorta’ of the vessel. “We have had some equipment delivery challenges and there is a lot of piping to accomplish, but we are on the final stretch of finishing the corridor. This will mark the end of an enormous and challenging part of our scope of work; we are happy to have reached this point.”
The engine room is another such compartment. After completing some additional and ‘last-minute’ changes, Stan is pleased to report that the stern tubes have both been installed and aligned. This means that the ‘hot works’ in the engine room are finished and the painters can make a start there. “The corridor and the engine room are extremely complex spaces; we should be able to hand the corridor over along with all the rest of the lower-forward part of the ship in week 39, the engine room will take until the end of the year as it stands now.” continues Stan. The project has faced a challenge regarding the aluminium superstructure. The combination of additional engineering modifications and a new aluminium contractor will mean that the work on the superstructure “will be going deep into October” says Stan.
While the YN 478 hull construction has not been without challenges, Stan is positive: “Together with Damen Yachting, we keep moving forward. The cooperation has always been constructive, but this has improved even more over the last few months. This is really nice for everyone working on the project and it greatly benefits the progress in production.”
Damen Yachting can now get started on their outfitting activities like insulation and the interiors of the crew compartments.