The SMM exhibition in Hamburg has long been a must for Dutch shipbuilders and suppliers to sell their products, knowledge and skills to customers worldwide and to those in our largest neighbouring country. Because Germany is and remains an important market for Dutch manufacturers and in certain sectors, such as coastal shipping, also for shipbuilders.
The proceeds from our exports to our eastern neighbours in turn enable the Dutch, for example, to drive the many German cars, or use electrical appliances and specialised machinery that we have been importing en masse from Germany since World War II.
But back to shipbuilding: the Germans know that for a ship they can earn good money with in coastal shipping, they have to turn to Dutch shipbuilders. And even if not built in the Netherlands, they are at least designed by one of the reputable design firms specialising in coastal shipping. Above all, they must be more sustainable ships that can continue to meet the increasingly stringent emission standards.
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CombiFreighters a success
Ships for short sea are still being built in the Netherlands, mainly at the yards on the Winschoterdiep in the province of Groningen and in the old Hanseatic city of Kampen. But Damen is still achieving great success with its design office in Drachten, Friesland. From the Saimax CombiCoaster-125, Damen developed the much sought-after CombiFreighter 3850, a success especially with German shipowners.
Through continuous modifications and innovations, Damen manages to reduce the fuel consumption and emissions of this design again and again. This is how Damen manages to keep the concept relevant and current and CombiFreighters continue to be ordered. You can read all about it in this July/August edition in the article by our editor Gerrit J. de Boer.
Also read: SWZ|Maritime’s May 2024 issue: It’s good to be nice to your neighbours
F126 and SMM
But since the end of December last year, warships are also being built for the German Navy under Dutch leadership of Damen engineers. This is quite unique, because something really has to happen before a big country like Germany outsources the construction of its warships to a foreign party. Any foreign party that manages to win such a contract must be of good stock. It is now up to Damen Naval to prove that it can also build world-class frigates for Germany. In this issue, you can read an update on the F126 project.
And furthermore, this edition of SWZ|Maritime has a lot to reveal about which Dutch companies will surprise visitors to
SMM in early September.
This is editor-in-chief Antoon Oosting’s editorial accompanying the July-August 2024 issue.
Also read: SWZ|Maritime’s April 2024 issue: Innovative inland navigation
SWZ Archive
Our digital archive is once again available to subscribers and they can read the digitial version of our July-August issue there. Subscribers can register here to gain access. Not yet a subscriber? Visit our subscription page.
Also read: SWZ|Maritime’s March 2024 issue: Ports, dredging, and strategy
The articles in SWZ|Maritime’s July-August issue
In addition to the regular sections such as Dutch news, Markets, Global news, news from the KNVTS and Mars Report, the articles in the July-August issue are:
- Build of Germany’s largest warship on track
- SMM 2024: AI, young talent and decarbonisation
- SMM 2024 larger and more international than ever
- Royal Bodewes builds two minibulkers for Hamburg
- A recipe for short-sea success
- Understanding parametric rolling of container ships
- How to deal with ETS and FuelEU Maritime
- Harnessing the wind
- Biodiversity: Essential for sustainable dredging
Picture: With the F126 frigates for Germany, Damen Shipyards is showing its capabilities, hopefully resulting in more orders from other countries as well (photo Damen Shipyards, cover picture of SWZ|Maritime’s July-August 2024 issue).
