By
Rebecca Gibson |
Damen Shipyard Group has opened its first-ever office in Helsinki, Finland as part of its new venture into building large vessels for the ro-pax, cruise and offshore markets.
Located in a recently renovated building in central Helsinki, the Damen Engineering Helsinki office is expected to be staffed by around 30 employees by the end of 2020. Finland was chosen as a base for the office because it is home to multiple engineers who are specialised in designing and building cruise, ro-pax and ice-class vessels. In addition, Helsinki offers easy connections to Damen’s facilities in Gdansk, Poland and Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Damen Engineering Helsinki will focus on concept and basic engineering and will work in close cooperation with customers, suppliers and colleagues at other Damen facilities. Plus, the team will seek collaboration opportunities with other local, specialised maritime engineering entities.
“We are now focused on building the team and we already have two projects to start with: a cruise vessel and a ro-ro vessel,” said Frank Rebel, manager of Engineering at Damen. “Members of Damen’s Helsinki team will have the opportunity to add real value to these and other projects in the future. We look forward to welcoming them into the Damen family.”