Damen holds surplus material auction as part of sustainability drive

Press Release – Damen Shipyards Group’s commitment to sustainability sees the company regularly considering new initiatives that can improve its environmental performance. The quest for ever-improved sustainability can lead to some unexpected initiatives. One such example is the recent auction of left-over surplus materials.

Stock manager Martijn van Tilborg explains, “Auctioning left over shipbuilding materials might not be the most obvious step towards greater sustainability, but it actually plays a significant role – what we are doing, effectively, is recycling. As well as the important environmental benefits, this is a great opportunity for our clients, for example, to stock up on spare parts in a cost-effective manner.”

He explains that previous drives towards more ecological performance has led Damen to take great care to optimise usage of materials ordered for the shipbuilding process. This has included, for example, a more centralised control of purchasing and improved data storage of purchased materials.

“Additionally, Damen has already been increasing its focus on re-using surplus materials as part of its mission to achieve circularity of its products. As a result, we now guarantee the use, on average, of 1 million euro worth of surplus materials that might otherwise go unused. However, we still see that we are left with some surplus every year. When we are trying to maximise efficiency at our yards and reduce wastage to an absolute minimum, we need to ensure that we create every possible opportunity to use purchased materials.”

The auction, which began on 21st November and will run until 12th December, was the first of its kind. It sees Damen selling  a whole range of equipment, with a value of approximately 2 million euros in total, covering everything from a helideck to a welding plate and from a propeller shaft to a plug.

Martijn: “We are confident that the auction will prove to be a great success and we aim to do more of this in the future. It’s a great way to optimise our recycling potential at the same time as improving the efficiency of our shipbuilding, purchase and supply performance.”

Damen Shipyards Group

Damen Shipyards Group operates 35 shipbuilding and repair yards, employing 12,000 people worldwide. Damen has delivered more than 6,000 vessels in more than 100 countries and delivers some 160 vessels annually to customers worldwide. Based on its unique, standardised ship-design concept Damen is able to guarantee consistent quality.

Damen’s focus on standardisation, modular construction and keeping vessels in stock leads to short delivery times, low ‘total cost of ownership’, high resale values and reliable performance. Furthermore, Damen vessels are based on thorough R&D and proven technology.

Damen offers a wide range of products, including tugs, workboats, naval and patrol vessels, high speed craft, cargo vessels, dredgers, vessels for the offshore industry, ferries, pontoons and superyachts.

For nearly all vessel types Damen offers a broad range of services, including maintenance, spare parts delivery, training and the transfer of (shipbuilding) know-how. Damen also offers a variety of marine components, such as nozzles, rudders, winches, anchors, anchor chains and steel works.

Damen Shiprepair & Conversion (DSC) has a worldwide network of eighteen repair and conversion yards of which twelve are located in North West Europe. Facilities at the yards include more than 50 floating and (covered) drydocks, the largest of which is 420 x 90 metres, as well as slopes, ship lifts and indoor halls. Projects range from the smallest

simple repairs through Class’ maintenance to complex refits and the complete conversion of large offshore structures. DSC completes around 1,300 repair and maintenance jobs annually, both at yards as well as in ports and during voyage.