Black Marlin Arrives in Rotterdam Carrying Eighteen Hulls for Damen

Photo courtesy Damen

The semi-submersible heavy lift vessel Black Marlin has arrived at the Port of Rotterdam with a monster load of prefabricated hulls for Damen.

The load in total comprised of seventeen inland shipping vessels hulls and Damen crane barge.

The hulls and crane barge were constructed in China and shipped to Rotterdam for final outfitting at Concordia Damen and other local shipyards. The crane barge will head to Damen Shipyards Gorinchem.

Damen says the idea of constructing the hulls in China and then shipping them to Europe, where there is the larger market for such vessels, is to save on costs.

“Sending one large vessel, with many smaller ones, is far more efficient that sending multiple small vessels,” says Bert Duijzer, technical manager at Concordia Damen. “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 minimizing the environmental footprint of our operations.”

Although the Damen crane barge is built to stock, the inland hulls have already been purchased.

“On this particular shipment, most of the hulls have already been purchased, though one of them will be placed on stock,” said Duijzer. “In this way, the process also ensures our clients of a very fast delivery of their new vessel.”

According to the Port of Rotterdam, Black Marlin is expected to berth in the Maasvlakte inland anchorage on Wednesday, at which point Black Marlin will submerge and the vessels will be offloaded. Three floating sheerlegs belonging to Bonn and Mees will then unload the vessels from one another in an operation that is expected to last about a week.

More photos of the Black Marlin with the eighteen vessels are below: