The Fire Department of the Amsterdam-Amstelland region and Damen Shipyards Group have signed an agreement for the construction of a new fire-fighting vessel, the Jan van der Heyde IV.

The signing of the contract is the official start of the vessel’s construction. It is expected that the Jan van der Heyde IV will make its debut in Amsterdam in the last quarter of 2016.

Floating Pump Unit

The fireboat is equipped to fight multiple fire-types from the water, such as on-board fires or on-shore fires which are more easily accessible from the water. The new Damen-built ship can also serve as a floating pump unit. This way, it can quickly and efficiently provide large quantities of water to teams working on land.

Jan van der Heyde

The new vessel is part of the Amsterdam Fire Brigade’s rich history of fire-fighting boats. As far back as 1875 the first floating steam injection Jan van der Heyde was put into service – named after Mr Jan van der Heyde, founder of the current fire-fighting method, organisation and technology.