On December 3rd, in Hamburg, Damen Shipyards Group signed a contract with Opus Marine for the delivery of a Fast Crew Supplier (FCS) 2710, to be named Allegro. The company will operate the vessel in support of its charterers, serving the offshore wind industry in the German section of the North Sea.
Damen will deliver the vessel to Opus Marine in March. The relative speed of delivery comes as a result of the shipbuilder’s practice of building standard vessels in series for stock. At the time of the contract signing, the FCS 2710 was already being constructed at Damen’s yard.
Building on success
Opus Marine operates a fleet of crew transfer vessels, amongst which is a Damen FCS 2610 named Verdi. This predecessor to the FCS 2710 was a game changer in offshore wind and went on to become an industry benchmark, of which around 50 were built. The FCS 2710 builds on the success of this design. It draws on the same Twin Axe bow in order to provide safe, comfortable transportation even in rough seas. A key feature is the vessel’s 1 meter increased height above the water. This allows the FCS 2710 to operate in water over 2 meters wave height, significantly increasing uptime. The FCS 2710 also offers additional deck space, tank capacity and accommodation.
Best boats
When Opus Marine wanted to increase its fleet ,it turned to Damen based on its previous experience, managing director Bernhard Messer explains. “We didn’t see any reason to change this winning team. It is our goal to provide the best CTV service to our clients, which we can only do with the best boats. If the going gets tough, Damen has proven itself to be an impressively reliable partner with an outstanding back office performance and technical support throughout. We are looking forward to our new fleet addition and further successful cooperation with Damen.”
Damen sales manager Joschka Boddeling echoed his sentiments, saying, “We are very happy that this project, which has been in pipeline for some time, has now matured. Working with Opus Marine, who in 2015 pioneered the 24 pax FCS 2610 in Germany, is something that we greatly value. Introducing the improved successor in the German market is something that we wish Bernhard and his team much success with.”
