Damen Rotterdam completes Becker Twisted Fin retrofits

MARCH 6, 2013 — Damen Shiprepair Rotterdam has now completed the installation of Becker Twisted Fins on seven 7,100 TEU Hamburg Süd containerships. The shipyard won the contract for the installations in October 2012 and the vessels were routed so that the ships could each be drydocked for a maximum of 6 days every consecutive week.

The first vessel, MV Santa Catharina, was scheduled to arrive at the yard on December 30, 2012. However, she was operationally delayed, which reduced the available time for the installation to three days. Nonetheless, thanks to intensive work preparation, smooth cooperation between the owners and manufacturer, and an efficient method of fitting each prefabricated Becker Twisted Fin to its vessel, DSR managed to re-deliver each vessel just before the next vessel was ready for docking. The last vessel, the MV Santa Rosa, was re-delivered in the last week of February.

The Becker Twisted Fin has been developed in order to improve the performance of the vessel in combination with the propeller and the aft body of the vessel. After testing in the Hamburg Ship Model Basin HSVA it showed a potential for reducing the fuel consumption for this type of vessel of up to 4 percent.