Damen delivers hybrid patrol vessel for Amsterdam canals

JUNE 21, 2013 — Damen Shipyards Hardinxveld-Giessendam, The Netherlands, has delivered a hybrid patrol vessel to Waternet (the Water Network Foundation), which will use the vessel for inspections and patrols, and for enforcing various legislation and rules in Amsterdam’s canals and other waters.

Named the Waterspreeuw (meaning “Dipper” in English), the vessel is a Damen Patrol Vessel 1304 Hybrid and can be powered entirely by electricity with a 130 kW electrically driven rudder propeller manufactured by Hydrosta.

ES Technology supplied 13 lithium polymer batteries for the drive system, providing enough electric power for at least 6 hours at an average cruising speed of 10 km/h.

The vessel also has a Steyr/AMK diesel generator set that complies with the European CCR3 standard for exhaust gas emissions set by the Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine. This means that the engine easily complies with the CCR2 standard stipulated by the client.

The engine switches on automatically when the battery capacity falls below the minimum level. Using both drive systems, the Waterspreeuw has a top speed of 16 km/h; using the batteries alone, it can hold that speed for an hour. The engine provides additional capacity when necessary but basically the intention is for the vessel to operate on electric power.

The Waterspreeuw is being supplied with a Zone 3 certificate issued by the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT).

The Waterspreeuw’s design takes account of the various different waters and bridges in and around Amsterdam. With its overall height of 1.80 metres, it can basically pass under all the bridges along the city’s through routes.

The hull has been designed to make the Waterspreeuw a low-wash vessel, minimizing inconvenience to houseboats during maneuvers in Amsterdam’s busy canals.

The rudder propeller and the 11 kW bow thruster mean that the Waterspreeuw is highly maneuverable in the narrow canals.

The vessel has its own 3-metre spud pole, so that its can moor anywhere without being dependent on the mooring facilities available.

With the Waterspreeuw, Damen has created a genuine “green multi-tasker.”

Though Damen is well known for its focus on standard designs and modular construction, Jos van Woerkum, Managing Director of Damen Shipyards Hardinxveld, says that “our motto ‘Just ask, and we’ll build anything that isn’t standard’ really does apply to the Waterspreeuw. The vessel is highly versatile and meets the stipulated emissions standard, one of the conditions set by Waternet. We are also grateful to Waternet for being commissioned to carry out this challenging assignment after an intensive European tendering procedure.”