Dutch shipbuilding group Damen has announced the successful float-out of the Antarctic Supply Research Vessel (ASRV) RSV Nuyina currently under construction at Damen Shipyards Galati in Romania.
The float-out took place over the weekend as the water levels in the yard’s dry dock holding the newbuild were raised by six meters; a process taking two days to complete.
Once afloat, the vessel was maneuvered about 250 meters to a quayside berth where the ongoing construction and outfitting process will take place.
Damen is building the 160-meter long research vessel for Serco subsidiary DMS Maritime on behalf of the Australian Department of the Environment and Energy.
Among its many missions, the vessel will be primarily used to keep Australia’s three permanent research stations on the Antarctic continent and its research station on Macquarie Island supplied with cargo, equipment and personnel. It will serve as a fully equipped research laboratory facility for up to 116 scientific staff.
Construction of the vessel began in August 2017 with a ceremonial keel-laying, followed by construction of the first four decks. Now that the vessel is afloat, construction will continue with the positioning of pre-fabricated superstructure blocks, bringing the finished vessel to its full 10-deck height of just over 50 meters.
“This is a great achievement for all involved,” said Rino Brugge, Managing Director Damen Shipyards Galati. “We still have a long way to go until final delivery, but this float-out once again highlights the extraordinary capability we have for building extremely complex high-end vessels for the broadest range of maritime clients – including commercial operators as well as government and naval contracts.”