Damen Shipyards has launched the first of its newly designed Stan Pontoon (SPo) 12032. It is the longest pontoon ever built by the company and part of a series of 34 currently being built. Damen Pontoons & Barges has also started building a second new design: the Crane Barge (CBa) 6324, a transshipment barge for handling dry bulk and container operations.
The 120 m long and 32,2 m wide Stan Pontoon was launched at Jiangsu Ganghua Shipyard, one of the company’s Chinese partner yards. With a deck strength of 20 t/m², its heavy duty deck is suitable for heavy ro/ro operations. The pontoon’s ballast system includes Econosto valves and Azcue pumps. Furthermore, the SPo 12032 is equipped with two DMT-winches, a Van der Leun electrical system (including a Caterpillar generating set), an International Paint system and it is classified under Lloyd’s Register. Together with sixteen smaller pontoons (varying between 41 x 13 m – 91 x 27 m), the new pontoon will arrive in the Netherlands in September 2012 on a semi-submersible vessel.
New Crane Barge
The newly designed crane barge, the CBa 6324 (63 m x 23,5 m), is a shallow draught transshipment barge (optionally self-propelled) able to on- and offload ship-to-ship and ship-to-quay and vice versa. It is outfitted with a Liebherr CBG 350 crane with a grab load capacity of 35 t @ 12-36m and a hook load capacity of 45 ton @ 12-36m. The average throughput will be around 20.000 T a day.
There is accommodation for 12 crew, including a pantry, change room, an office and cabins. Several of these new barges are currently being built, with the first ready for delivery in November 2012 (the Netherlands) and the second in December (China). Crane Barges 3 and 4 will be available in Q1-2013.
Hulls in Stock
Currently, more than 35 pontoons are under construction at Chinese partner yards under Damen supervision. Mr Frank Koppelaar, Product Director Pontoons & Barges, says: ‘Damen is continuously developing and building new pontoons and new barge types. We’re building our full range, from 30 x 11 m barges to 120 x 32 m barges, and sell them from stock, so delivery times can be shortened to weeks and in some cases even days.’ A new series of Offshore Accommodation Barges will get started soon as well.
Rhumb Maritime
The Damen Stan Pontoon 4113, which was ordered by Australian chartering company Rhumb Maritme, has been launched last week and is currently ready for delivery.
Picture: the SPo 12032
