Damen has signed an agreement to acquire Keppel Verolme in the Botlek area of Rotterdam from the Singapore yard group in a deal that is expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter of the year. Verolme will Damen’s second yard in Rotterdam and feature the largest drydock in the group 90 m wide by 405 m long which it said would give capacity to cater for the “largest maritime objects”.
Damen’s largest dock at present, at Damen Shiprepair Rotterdam, is 46 m by 307 m. Verolme has 250 staff, three graving docks and over 1,800 m of quay capacity.
“Damen intends to continue activities in the Botlek area with the current employees of the yard,” Damen said.
Keppel O&M it had decided to sell the yard following a strategic review to “optimise its operations and rationalise its global network of yards”.
Keppel is already mothballing two overseas yards in Brazil and Indonesia and is closing three of its smaller yards in its homebase of Singapore. The world’s largest builder of jack-up offshore rigs has been hit hard by the low oil price and the crash off the offshore marine market.
“Keppel O&M continues to see opportunities in the offshore oil and gas market in Europe and the North Sea, and will service these markets through its network of yards in Singapore and globally,” Keppel O&M said.
No financial details of the deal were disclosed.
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