Damen Shipyards has embarked on a project to build three shallow-draught multipurpose support vessels at Albwardy Damen shipyard in Sharjah, UAE. The shipbuilder, which has a strategy of building for stock, does not get have clients for the vessels. But this approach enables standard vessels to be adapted to meet customers’ needs during construction relatively quickly and has proved successful many times before.

Swiss clean technology company, Bcomp, and Croatian boatbuilding specialist, Marservis, have announced the start of ferry services in the Adriatic Sea using a solar-powered ferry party constructed with natural fibre composites. The vessel, partly built with Bcomp’s flax-fibre composite, ampliTex^TM, is the result of 30 months of collaboration between the two companies.

The German Government and the state of Lower Saxony have stepped in to rescue the 225-year-old shipbuilder, Meyer Werft, which has teetered on the edge of collapse in recent weeks. Despite an order book worth around EUR 11 billion and work extending until 2031, the company had run out of cash. The crisis was blamed on the consequences of the pandemic, Russia’s war against Ukraine, and soaring commodity prices.

Turkish shipyard, Uzmar, has been chosen by Svitzer to build what is claimed to be the world’s first battery-methanol tug. It will be based on Svitzer’s TRAnsverse design with a 6-MWHh battery and dual-fuel methanol-powered engines for back-up and range extension.