The Netherlands: Damen has been tasked with developing the first environmentally friendly ferry design for the Dutch shipping company Rederij Doeksen.
Based in Harlingen, Rederij Doeksen operates passenger and car ferries between Harlingen and the Dutch Wadden islands of Vlieland and Terschelling.
This will be the first time Gorinchem-based Damen has specifically designed a ferry aiming at a sustainable solution and this is the first ferry of this type for Doeksen.
"This project is particularly interesting because we have to look at the existing ferries, the specifics of the waterways in the Wadden Sea which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the passenger, car, cycle capacity and the peaks and troughs in demand," said Henk Grunstra, Damen Product Director.
"It is not purely about the vessel itself but it is about finding out the most sustainable way of operating the service given the specific environment. The solution has to be the right answer for the situation, this is not just about fitting a gas tank into a vessel."
Once the Dutch shipbuilding group and Doeksen have collected all the data the two partners will analyse the best way an environmentally friendly vessel can be developed "to provide a durable, sustainable solution for the ferry services", he added.
"The vessel will be powered by LNG, a hybrid system using wind/solar energy and other alternative solutions. If it turns out that using a diesel system with a filter is the better option then this may be considered," he said.
The sustainable ferry design project is partly funded by the Dutch government (Stimulatie Innovatie Binnenvaart) and by a European Union Interreg – North Sea Region grant (iTRANSFER), which promotes interregional cooperation. The funding aims to stimulate connections via the waterways in the North Sea area, with particular attention being paid to sustainable shipping.
