Heavy-lift vessel Black Marlin has departed Shanghai and is on its way to Rotterdam with a remarkable load of cargo. On deck are eighteen Concordia Damen inland shipping vessel hulls and a Damen Crane Barge 6324.
The hulls and crane barge have been constructed at yards in China. They are scheduled to arrive in the Port of Rotterdam mid-August. Upon arrival, the hulls will be towed to Concordia Damen and other local yards for outfitting and the Crane Barge to Damen Shipyards Gorinchem.
The Black Marlin is a semi-submersible. The vessel was partially submerged to load the cargo on deck.
Cost Efficient Construction and Transport
The idea of constructing the hulls in China is to ensure a cost efficient product. However, with the market for these types of vessel being mostly found in Europe, it is important that repositioning the hulls is done in a manner which maintains this cost efficiency.
Bert Duijzer, technical manager at Concordia Damen, explained the logic behind heavy lift transportation: 'Sending one large vessel, with many smaller ones, is far more efficient than sending multiple small vessels. This way we are able to pass on the cost efficiency we have gained in construction to our clients in Europe, at the same time as minimising the environmental footprint of our operations.'
The cargo being positioned over the Black Marlin's submerged deck.
Vessels on Stock
'On this particular shipment, most of the hulls have already been purchased, though one of them will be placed on stock.' Damen regularly adds vessels built in China to its stock in order to be able to offer fast delivery times. The Damen Crane Barge, built for stock, will become available for a visit or demonstration from the end of August 2019.
