At the recent New Orleans Workboat Festival, Damen Shipyards Group signed a contract with Le Groupe Océan for the delivery of two Damen Modular Multi Cats 1205. The vessels, which are made of standard, container sized units for easy transportation anywhere, will serve as dredging support vessels on an oil sands project in northern Canada. Le Groupe Océan is a major participant in Québec’s maritime industry, and operates mainly in Quebec, Ontario, and New Brunswick. The company has nearly 850 employees and is one of Canada’s largest providers of marine services.
The oil sands tailings ponds on which the Multi Cats will work are not easily accessible by water. The modular nature of the vessels means that they can be easily transported to site by truck and then quickly assembled for operation on location. The modularity of the design also makes any future relocations straightforward.
Tommy Theriault, Business Development Director for Océan Marine Works and Dredging, explained: “In addition to the ease with which we can transport these vessels quickly and cost-effectively to inaccessible locations, Damen’s standardized shipbuilding process meant that it already had one of the vessels in stock for delivery in February, less than three months following the signing of the contract.” The second vessel, which is being built at Damen Shipyards in Poland, will follow a few months later.
The Damen Multi Cat has is a versatile workboat with an extensive track record in tmany sectors. It is used for towing and anchor-handling, dive support, marine engineering, offshore energy operations and for dredging and dredging support operations.
Damen Shipyards Group operates 33 shipbuilding and repair yards, employing 10,000 people worldwide. Damen has delivered more than 6,000 vessels in more than 100 countries and delivers some 180 vessels annually to customers worldwide.