BigLift brings 11 Damen tugs from Asia to Europe on one ship

Photo: Damen

Putting the big into BigLift, Spliethoff Group’s heavy lift specialist BigLift Shipping has used a single vessel to transport 11 Damen tugs from the shipbuilder’s yards in Vietnam and China to Europe.

While such voyages usually require six months to plan and organize, Damen reports that there was less than two months available to prepare for this one and to ensure that each stage was executed on time.

The ship used to transport the 11 Damen tugs was BigLift’s Happy Star, a 156-meter heavy lift vessel equipped with two 1,100 tonne heavy lift mast cranes.

The Happy Star departed Halong Bay, Vietnam, for Europe on April 4 and arrived 38 days later at Vigo, Spain, to unload one vessel before continuing on to Rotterdam, where it is set to arrive May 19 to unload the remaining ten tugs.

Damen notes that these mass deliveries do not take place often, since it is rare for so many vessels to be ready to be despatched at the same time. The last such event occurred in 2015 when Happy Star transported 22 vessels of various types on the same route.

Delivering vessels on heavy lift ships rather than on their own hulls offers advantages that include having the vessels and their equipment arriving in pristine condition. The environment also benefits from the emissions savings gained by having just one ship, albeit a larger one, doing all the work.

“At Damen we aim to provide our clients with a holistic service that includes not only building their boats but also delivering them to where they are needed with the entire process managed by Damen experts,” says Rimmert Berlijn, Damen Services heavylift coordinator. “This is all part of being a total maritime solutions provider. In addition, clients taking advantage of this service also enjoy the peace of mind that comes with knowing that that their vessels are fully covered by Damen’s warranty program right from the start.”

Sanne Wiegerink, commercial manager at BigLift Shipping, describes this voyage as a shining example of Dutch excellence, with “the Happy Star, one of the Netherlands’ premier heavy lift vessels, transporting tugs for a distinguished Dutch shipbuilder, ultimately serving various Dutch clients. We take immense pride in our contribution to this remarkable project.”