‘Stan De Nul’
Dredging giant Jan De Nul can clearly see the benefits of the Damen Stan Tug 1606 – often dubbed the workhorse of the industry – with eleven Stan Tugs joining its fleet in the last few years. To be delivered over a period of 18 months, the five latest vessels have all been built at Albwardy Marine Engineering in Dubai, one of Damen’s joint venture shipyards in the Middle East.
With a Bollard Pull in excess of 15 t and a speed of 11 kn, the vessels are particularly well equipped for assisting big hopper and cutter dredgers in many different operations. Damen’s Sales Director Europe, Joris Neven, says these workboats are very versatile. They can be used in connecting/disconnecting to the bow when it is necessary for the large dredgers to pump sand ashore or for smaller dredging jobs. “They are a very capable working tool for all kinds of assists, pushing, towing…The Stan Tug 1606 is a very robust workboat.” All five new Jan De Nul Stan Tugs have been delivered already. Three are still in Dubai and will later be deployed on various support jobs with the large cutters, presently being built in Croatia. One will join the huge Manifa Field Causeway project in Saudi Arabia and the fifth is destined to be involved in the extension works of the Panama Canal.
Neven is very proud that they could meet Jan De Nul’s exacting standards. “Jan De Nul has very high quality standards, only the best is good enough.” During the build of the last five Stan Tugs, Jan De Nul had the position of the exhaust pipes moved, so these latest vessels look slightly different from the standard version. Another advantage of the Stan Tug 1606 is its very short delivery time. The Stan Tugs are being built in several Damen yards, in China, Vietnam, South Africa, Poland and in the Middle East for instance but also at non-Damen yards around the globe, in line with the Damen Technical Cooperation concept. “There will always be a need for this type of vessel. It is part of our strategy to continuously build the Stan Tug series so we can always accommodate short delivery requests,” says Neven.
In 2008, Jan De Nul placed the order for five additional Stan Tugs, following a major order in 2007 when the Belgian firm ordered six Stan Tugs, as well as four Damen Fast Crew Suppliers.