The jury of the KNVTS Ship of the Year Award has nominated three ships of Dutch built for the Ship of the Year Award 2012: the Athena, the HMS Holland and the Marineco Shamal.
Athena
IHC Merwede has built the self propelled cutter suction dredger Athena for Van Oord. The most important goals in the design were ensuring high workability at sea, high usability and excellent working and living conditions. The yard succeeded in creating a very compact design that has significantly improved self propelled cutter suction dredger technology, which features upgraded barge-loading and flexible spud systems.
HMS Holland
The HMS Holland is a new type ocean-going patrol vessel for the Dutch Royal Navy suitable for asymmetric warfare at sea. It is flexible in its deployment and equipped for the surveillance of coastal waters, carrying out counterterrorism and -piracy missions, shipping checks and counterdrug operations. The ship can be deployed worldwide and has an endurance of 21 days. Through the use of a helicopter and the Fast Raiding Interception & Special Forces Craft (FRISC) the ship’s speed could be limited to 21.5 knots resulting in relatively low installed power and a energy efficient platform. Damen Schelde Naval Shipping, the Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) of the Royal Navy, research institutes and several suppliers have proven to be able to design and build a platform ready for fast changing military circumstances.
Marineco Shamal
Damen Shipyards has developed the Fast Crew Supplier 2610 Twin Axe to quickly get maintenance personnel to ever further offshore locations in rough conditions. The catamaran is roughly 25 m long, can reach speeds of 20 – 27 kn and can transport twelve people and 15 t cargo. The axe bow offers advantages in terms of resistance and acceleration of the bow. Deck slamming is prevented by removing a large part of the front deck and by giving the tunnel between the hulls an elliptic shape. The first ship of this type, the Marineco Shamal, was delivered mid 2011 and so far Damen has received eleven orders for this vessel type.
For a more detailed description (in Dutch), please visit www.knvts.nl or read the KNVTS "Verenigingsnieuws" in SWZ Maritime's September issue (to appear 28 September).
The pictures of the nominated vessels can be found in the slide show below (click the little square at the bottom right to watch them in the proper dimensions); the Athena (courtesy IHC Merwede), the HMS Holland (courtesy DSNS) and the Marineco Shamal (courtesy Damen Shipyards).
Main picture with the article: the Ship of the Year Award winner wins a model of an authentic fluyt, a Dutch type of sailing vessel originally designed as a dedicated cargo vessel.
