Fine weather after a stormy morning and a wide range of vessels to view and try out on the water encouraged a good turnout of clients, industry partners and media at Damen’s second annual Workboat Festival.

More than 200 guests explored the various stands at Damen Shipyards’ HQ at Gorinchem, taking part at interactive exhibits dedicated to six themes that are highly topical at present.

These were environmental responsibility; digitalisation; safety & security; operations & maintenance; and marine harvesting & offshore energy. For each of these, Damen specialists were available to present the latest solutions and discuss the initiatives and innovations.

In addition to the sizeable Damen team, led by COO Arnout Damen, ten Damen suppliers also had stands on the waterfront. They brought their own specialist knowledge to the day, covering areas including engines and other machinery, electrical integration and automation, and propulsion.

“We had a very successful second festival,” commented Mijndert Wiesenekker, Damen Sales Director for Benelux. “Features such as our apps showing remote monitoring in action, and the finance department generating quotes in real-time in response to customers’ requests, were a big success.”

“The ship models and products on display received lots of interest and we even had a sand suction challenge with a Damen Cutter Suction Dredger simulator for guests to take part in. We look forward to doing it again next year,” said Wiesenekker.