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Damen Naval is working on several large projects. Read here about the most important updates on the F126 frigates for the German Navy, the Combat Support Ship (CSS) Den Helder for the Royal Netherlands Navy, the Landing Ship Transport 100, the NNS Kada and superyacht YN 478 that is being built in Vlissingen-Oost in collaboration with Damen Yachting.
In July, engineers will start the detailed engineering for the four F126 frigates.
F126: approaching the last big expansion of the project
Damen Naval’s offices at Vlissingen, Schiedam and Hamburg have seen a huge growth in personnel numbers over the last couple of years. This has been primarily due to the large amount of people needed to work on the substantial F126 project to build four frigates for the German Navy. The project team currently comprises more than 300 people and is soon going to increase even more. “We expect further expansion from July when MEGA will start on the detailed engineering,” says Damen Naval’s F126 Project Director Frank Verhelst. “This will be the last big expansion of the project.”
Such a rapid growth in team numbers has meant that the F126 project organisation has made substantial investments into training programmes. “We have a lot of training materials and working instructions available,” continues Frank. “We have covered a wide range of subjects, which are being made available in the F126 Damen Academy. For example, the engineers from MEGA are currently being brought up to speed with the 3DX training packages.”
As the F126 project’s basic engineering phase continues, so does the process of signing contracts with suppliers. One of the most recent contracts to be signed has been with ABB, which will be providing power generation and distribution systems, notably with a DC grid. This DC grid will allow the German navy to use the minimum amount of diesel generators. As such, overall running time, and therefore fuel consumption of the power generation systems, will be reduced. Read more about the contract with ABB here.
RENK CEO Susanna Wiegand and Damen Naval Managing Director Hein van Ameijden.
Another significant contract was signed with RENK, which will supply the gearboxes and electric propulsion systems. RENK is a long-time supplier for the German Navy and for Damen Naval. One especially newsworthy fact about this contract is that the F126 vessels will have electric propulsion motors which can either drive the propellers individually or together with the diesel engine; this is a propulsion configuration never before used by the German Navy. Read more about the RENK contract here.
CSS Den Helder is right on track
After the successful launch in April, Modules 2 and 3 of the new Combat Support Ship were joined with module 1 in the dry dock in Galati, Romania. At the same time, the sections of module 4 are being attached to the front. Together these four modules form the hull. “We are right on track: the modules are connected, and we are busy working on the propulsion train,” says Damen Naval Project Director Arjan Risseeuw.
Project Director Arjan Risseeuw is dwarfed bij the CSS.
The outriggers for the propeller shafts are currently being placed. In the third week of June, there will be a Factory Acceptance Test for the propeller shafts at Kongsberg Maritime in Sweden. After that, they will be shipped to Romania for installation. When the propeller shafts are in place, the propeller blades and rudders will be installed. Meanwhile, the engineers are busy carrying out the detailed engineering for the buoyancy aid that will help move the ship to the wet section of the dock in October. The pulling of the nearly 700km of cables also continues steadily.
The CSS will be delivered to DMO in 2024.
Nigerian homecoming for LST 100
The Nigerian Navy greeted the Landing Ship Transport 100 – now known as NNS Kada – to its home port of Lagos on 27 May. The vessel had completed its 8,500 nautical mile maiden voyage after setting off from Albwardy Damen in the United Arab Emirates on 2 April. On her way home NNS Kada made scheduled diplomatic stops in Oman, Kenya, South Africa, Angola, and Gabon.
The vessel departed the UAE the day after her handover ceremony at the Damen yard; heading down the east coast of Africa with her own crew of 65 supplemented by nine Damen advisors, who worked in teams of three in three shifts per day. “One person on the bridge and two below decks,” says Damen’s project leader Sander Boost. “This was more than we would usually provide, but as our contract with the client did not include any form of training, we decided that this was necessary to guarantee safety during this delivery voyage of almost two months long. As such, this was very much a ‘learning-on-the-job’ process for the client.”
NNS Kada has arrived in her home port of Lagos, Nigeria.
Sander is pleased to report that the NNS Kada completed her maiden voyage without any major mechanical teething problems. The vessel also experienced some sizeable waves that she managed well.
Looking ahead to the remaining nine months of the vessel’s one-year warranty period, Sander points to the presence of dedicated service engineer Mario Petzer. “He is based in Lagos until March 2023 to sort out any outstanding issues, connecting back to Omar Simons in the back office here in the Netherlands if needed.”
Plenty of activity for YN 478-project
There is enough to report from the Hybrid Expedition Yacht project taking place at Damen Naval’s production facilities at Vlissingen-Oost. The project’s Production Coordinator Stan Haag reports that the section building is well underway with “the first section – #1151 – due to be transported to the paint shop in week 27”. Furthermore, the section building team has seen an increase in personnel, which will enable the project to stay on schedule.
One of the sections of YN 478 on its way from Hall 1 to Hall 2 at the Vlissingen-Oost shipyard.
Despite challenges posed by long delivery times over the past few months, work in the pipe shop is starting to pick up pace again. And in Hall 2, the hull assembly team has begun preparations for the first hull assembly of section #1151. This section will be positioned on its cradles shortly after the summer closure. Talking about the cooperation between Damen Naval and Damen Yachting on this project, Stan remarks: “Both project teams are working closely together. It is a great showcase of intercompany collaboration within the Damen Group!”