Romanian Govt. builds state-of-the-art ferries at Damen Mangalia shipyard

Romania’s biggest shipyard, Damen Mangalia, where the Romanian Government holds 51% of the shares and Dutch group Damen holds the remaining 49% and manages the operations, will build two state-of-the-art RoRo hybrid ferries, the Ministry of Economy announced.

“We prove, once again, that the partnership between Damen and Romania is a success. We are talking about yet another contract with multiple benefits for the largest construction site in Europe and, implicitly, for the Romanian economy,” said economy minister Niculae Bădălău.

These two innovative 149-meter vessels will be able to store 209 cubic meters of liquified natural gas (LNG) onboard and will have 2 megawatt hours of battery capacity. They will go into service for Seaspan Ferries as part of the company’s fleet replacement program. The vessels will go into operation in 2021 with construction starting in 2019.

“Damen worked very hard to win this project and Seaspan Ferries is excited to partner with them in their new yard in Mangalia, Romania. The yard has a good reputation for quality and has all of the necessary people and infrastructure to build these great vessels for Seaspan Ferries,” said Harly Penner, Director Fleet Engineering & Vessel Development at Seaspan Ferries.

The Economy Ministry’s press release comes at a moment when a large contract worth more than EUR 1 billion for four multi-role military frigates is at a deadlock possibly nearing cancellation, with Damen as the Government’s reportedly preferred bidder but not the cheapest option.

(Photo source: Damen.com)