THE HAGUE, WILLEMSTAD - Alewijnse Marine and Damen Shipyards Curaçao have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) covering cooperation in ship repair, ship building and associated activities at Damen Shiprepair Curaçao (DSCu), in the southern Caribbean. The agreement was signed in the presence of Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of Curaçao Eugene Rhuggenaath and Curaçao Minister of Economic Development Steven Martina, during the Bon Bini for Business Summit in Curaçao on 21 January 2019.

Damen Shiprepair & Conversion (DSC) and Alewijnse Marine have a longstanding relationship, with Alewijnse already contributing its specialist electrical integration and automation skills for ship building, repair and conversions at Damen sites in countries including Vietnam, Qatar and France, as well as the Netherlands. DSC now aims to bring the electrical services at the recently acquired DSCu up to a similar standard and so is looking to extend its cooperation with Alewijnse on a similar basis.

Bringing benefits to the region
“The MoU between Damen Shiprepair Curaçao and Alewijnse is an important step towards full cooperation,” said Alewijnse International Business Development Manager Dumitru Poperesniuc. “The final agreement will strengthen the ship repair and conversion options available to ship owners and operators in the Caribbean and we would be glad to hear this contributes to the positive impact that DSCu will have on the economic development of the region.”

Damen Shiprepair Curaçao
DSCu is strategically located on the route to the Panama Canal, outside the Hurricane Belt, and offers excellent working conditions within a natural bay. The yard features two graven dry docks; the larger, measuring 280 x 45 meters, is one of the largest in the Caribbean. The other is 193 x 26 meters and there is almost 2 kilometers of quay side. In April 2018 two floating dry docks, one of which is a Panamax dock measuring 230 x 45 meters, were delivered from the Netherlands. The local cruise ship and offshore energy sectors are expected to be among the yard’s clients.

Future cooperation
The MoU is intended to facilitate discussions regarding general areas of future cooperation. Alewijnse will investigate potential commercial and technical cooperation between DSCu’s electrical department and Alewijnse project management, and would like to have an active role in the project processes at the yard. Alewijnse will also offer technological expertise locally in the development, adaptation, production, delivery, installation and commissioning of a variety of marine electrotechnical and automation solutions, as well as radio-navigation systems.