Yard to complete six consecutive maintenance and repair projects for the cruise operator by March
By
Rebecca Gibson |
Damen Shiprepair Amsterdam (DSAm), part of Damen Shiprepair & Conversion, has started a series of consecutive refits on six vessels in the Viking River Cruises fleet.
Each of Viking’s longships will spend an average of 10-11 days in the yard, enabling DSAm to complete all six projects by early March. Viking Idi was the first to arrive at the yard in late December 2015 and she will be followed by sister ships Viking Idun, Viking Kvasir, Viking Kara, Viking Hlin and Viking Gullveig.
DSAm will complete various repairs and maintenance tasks onboard each vessel, including stern frame modifications to help prevent propeller damage when they turn in the narrow canals and waterways. To do this, they will install an additional prefabricated steel construction, which will span from the seawater inlet chest to the stern.
“We have got to know Viking’s river cruise vessels quite well over the last couple of years, completing five identical stern modifications to part of their fleet already,” said Arnold Bregman, DSAm project manager. “With six vessels one after the other, we will be undocking the completed vessel and docking the next one on the same day. They’ll all be in our number one drydock, which is perfect for river cruise vessels. We are right on schedule and proud to be continuing our relationship with Viking River Cruises.”
The DSAm site, located in close proximity to the Amsterdam cruise terminal, is ideally located to perform the refits on Viking’s ships as the city is a principal embarkation and disembarkation point on many of its European river cruise itineraries.