Oranjewerf’s location – just north of Amsterdam and close to the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal and the North Sea Canal – is a significant factor in its success; this has earned it a respected position serving both the inland and seagoing shipping sectors, said Damen.
Throughout Damen Shiprepair Oranjewerf’s long history, the yard’s services have remained very much unchanged. Founded in 1949 by a consortium of local shipping companies and shipyards, the yard’s major aim was to offer repair services to inland and coastal vessels. Now, 70 years later and part of the Damen Shipyards Group since 1989, Damen Shiprepair Oranjewerf is able draw upon that vast amount of experience to continue its work for numerous maritime markets. Some of Damen workforce have worked there for more than 20 years, one of them for 40 years.
The inland cruise sector is particularly important for Damen Shiprepair Oranjewerf. Every year, for example, some 2,400 inland cruise vessels visit the city of Amsterdam. “About 25 to 30 of these come to us and Damen Shiprepair Amsterdam for some sort of docking,” says Jeen van der Werf, sales manager at the yard. The common factor required by these clients is a quick turnaround, something that Damen Shiprepair Oranjewerf can reduce to less than six hours.
“This is our specialty,” says van der Werf.
For all its work, the yard utilises one drydock (135 x 23 metres, with a 6,000 tonne capacity) and one slipway (100 x 11 metres, 1,500 tonne capacity). These are occupied 95% of the time.
Joining the Damen Shipyards Group 30 years ago saw Damen Shiprepair Oranjewerf increase its coverage to more maritime sectors. Today, this most notably includes clients from the offshore industry, with ships operating out of IJmuiden and Den Helder, in addition to vessels working in the dredging and cargo sectors.
Van der Werf continues by pointing out that the yard’s location is not the only reason that clients repeatedly come to Damen Shiprepair Oranjewerf. “They also love how we work – we have just four people in management so our lines of communication are inherently short.” “We serve our customers 24 hours a day.”
Damen Shipyards Group operates 36 shipbuilding and repair yards, employing 12,000 people worldwide. Damen has delivered more than 6,500 vessels in more than 100 countries and delivers around 175 vessels annually to customers worldwide.
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