Damen Song Cam shipyard opened in Vietnam

With direct access to the open sea, the new yard is based on a 43-hectare site, of which 500m are located alongside the River Cam. The yard has a 120m-long and 85m-wide outfitting hall, plus extensive paint and carpentry workshops. The shipbuilding hall is equipped with three overhead cranes with a capacity of 25 tonnes each over every bay.
Special work platforms are fitted at a height of 5m and 8m, respectively, so employees are able to work very close to the main deck of the vessels.
A further area of 43 hectares, which will be developed as a maritime industrial zone, is situated next to the site of Damen Song Cam.
Damen has a well-established history in Vietnam and has been working with five shipyards for more than twelve years.
Chris Groninger, managing director of Damen Song Cam said: “Damen started building in Vietnam for the first time at Song Cam yard and this venture was such a successful cooperation for both Damen and Song Cam that we decided to bring this to the next level and that led to Damen Song Cam.”
In the first phase about 300 people are working at Damen Song Cam and 40 ships will be built annually. As soon as phase 2 is realised and up to 80 vessels can be built annually, Damen expects to increase its number of staff to approximately 800.
Damen said it had also heavily invested in training and knowledge transfer. More than 50 engineers have been trained in the Netherlands and many more will attend courses in the Netherlands and Vietnam. Additionally, an office has been established in Hai Phong, and in the next six months Damen plans to open a base in Hanoi.