Given the very short delivery time, the new vessel will already be officially launched and christened ‘Panda’ on March 23. Herman Senior has a tradition of naming its ships after famous bears.

Based in Dordrecht, Herman Senior serves the dredging market, offshore wind farms and the oil & gas industry, with services including towage, plough dredging, anchor handling, geotechnical services, diving support and salvage & anchor recovery, amongst others.

Jack van Dodewaard, Herman Senior Managing Director, comments: “The new Multi Cat 2712 has the big advantage that she is suited for deepsea work and can sail worldwide under her own keel. At the moment we have our vessels in Latin America, Australia, the Middle East, North Africa and Europe so this new addition will add to our flexibility. “Our current Damen Multi Cat ‘Yogi’ has a working limit of 30 miles offshore. She has been active in South America for three years so in the first instance we had to go to the expense of transporting her over there.”

Coupled with this, Damen is aiming for a very fast delivery of just four weeks so the Panda will be ready for her first project, he adds.

The Multi Cat 2712 has a bollard pull of 32 tonnes and two 290 tonnes/metres cranes on board with a lifting capacity of 11.5 tonnes at 16.5 metres, so is suitable for a wide range of tasks. ‘Panda’ is largely a standard Damen vessel, which has been built for stock, although some extra navigational equipment has been added.

Mr van Dodewaard stresses: “Although we have a long history together, if Damen didn’t deliver the quality and service levels we expect, then we would look for another shipyard. A major advantage is that Damen understands our specific requirements. The drawings are automatically adapted each time and updated for the next vessel.”

Jos van Woerkum, Managing Director of Damen Shipyards Hardinxveld, says: “I have personally known Jack for more than 40 years when I was just starting my career at Damen. We are very pleased to be able to assist the company with its latest fleet expansion. It is great that he is still a satisfied customer all these years later. We have a relationship based on trust, they know if we promise to do something, we do what we say.”

Vira Maritime