Damen will build a 25-metre ferry especially designed to carry vehicles and passengers across the canal linking Ghent and Terneuzen.
The contract was signed 31 December with Vloot dab, Belgium, making it the Damen Shipyards Group’s last newbuild order of 2016. The new ferry will be named Cyriel Buysse and is scheduled for delivery in March 2018. The build will take place at Damen Shipyards Hardinxveld in cooperation with Damen Shipyards Gorinchem.
Manoeuvrability and Propulsion
Even though the journey time each way for the ferry will be little more than five minutes, the complex route and the minimal room for manoeuvre of the busy waterway means that it will be fitted with twin Voith Schneider propellers (cycloidal drives) to give it the agility required for safe and timely passages.
Power will be provided by twin diesel engines delivered via reduction gearboxes, and shaft generators will supply electrical power for onboard systems. An emergency generator rated at 14.5 kVA will also be installed.
Vloot dab is a government-owned vessel operator, supplying and operating over 45 vessels for the public sector along the coast of Flushing, in the Scheldt area and on the Ghent-Terneuzen canal. The range of vessels includes tugs, work boats, patrol boats, hydrographic research vessels and a variety of ferries.
