Successive waterbus orders for Damen

Damen Shipyards has secured two successive orders for a total of five waterbuses, which includes its first orders for the brand-new Waterbus 2407 model.

Aqualiner has ordered four Damen Waterbus 2407 vessels, to be built at Damen’s Antalya yard, which will support an innovative transportation scheme in the city of Antwerp.

“We are very pleased to have secured this contract for the new Waterbus 2407, so soon after its introduction. We are very confident in the capabilities of this new vessel type and expect that the Antwerp-based waterbuses will serve as a strong reference for the model,” said Jelle Meindertsma, Damen sales manager.

The first vessel has already delivered from stock and the additional three will be built at Damen Shipyards Antalya in Turkey, the group’s composite specialist.

Naming of the first vessel, Aqua Diamond, took place in June at Steenplein in the city of Antwerp. The vessel is named in honour of Antwerp’s leading role in the diamond industry.

As composite vessels, the waterbuses are not only lightweight and efficient, they are also free from corrosive properties and offer very low maintenance.

Aqualiner and Waterbus from the Netherlands have a long partnership. When the waterbus system in the Rotterdam area was created around eight years ago, Damen delivered eight vessels to the company, all of which are still in service.

The first Waterbus will operate a service connecting the centre of Antwerp with the southern reaches of the city. It will later expand with a similar service to the north. When the four waterbuses are in operation, both services will be able to offer half-hourly transportation.

The entire service is planned to be operational at the end of August 2018.

Canadian SeaBus order

In addition to the Aqualiner order, Canada’s TransLink, Metro Vancouver’s regional transportation authority has placed an order for a second Damen waterbus.

The new ferry will increase frequency on one of world’s most popular ferry services, between downtown Vancouver and North Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada.

This vessel order represents the next generation of the type and will feature additional exhaust gas after treatment systems to optimise its green credentials.

It comes as TransLink celebrates the 40th anniversary of its SeaBus service.

Once the new vessel comes into service in 2019, SeaBus will have three vessels in operation at the same time allowing TransLink to increase service frequency to every ten minutes during peak periods.