Damen Shipyards wins “Ship of the Year Award” for revolutionary SAR boat
Damen has won the Royal Netherlands Society for Marine Engineering (KNVTS) “Ship of the Year Award” for “Nh1816”, the first of a series of the SAR 1906, a revolutionary new Search & Rescue boat, at the Maritime Awards Gala 2014 held in Rotterdam, the company said in its press release.
Jaap Gelling, Director High Speed Craft of Damen Shipyards, says: “We are absolutely delighted that this very special vessel has received this accolade. The SAR 1906 is sailing proof that investment in R&D and innovation works!”
Developed in close collaboration with the Royal Netherlands Sea Rescue Institution (KNRM), Delft University of Technology and De Vries Lentsch Naval Architects, the new type is the future “big boat” of KNRM, the so-called “Nh1816 Class” (named after its sponsor “De Noord Hollandsche van 1816”).
“We started working on this next generation Lifeboat in 2009. Various concept designs were jointly made and these were extensively tested by Delft University of Technology. There is no other lifeboat in the world for which such an enormous amount of R&D has been carried out. The final design was only reached due to the excellent cooperation between all the parties.”
The SAR 1906 is a 35 knots self-righting vessel, with an aluminium hull and a composite wheelhouse. The hull design is based on the Axe Bow technology, adapted for the specific operations of lifeboats.
Damen delivered the first vessel to KNRM in the beginning of 2014. But the longer-term plan is that the SAR 1906 replaces the KNRM’s “Arie Visser Class”, which already has a reputation for being one of the best lifeboats in the world.
Mr Gelling adds: “We have kept and improved all the great things of the Arie Visser Class boats and solved the less favourable aspects – the SAR 1906 is simply better in all respects. Seakeeping is fantastic, manoeuvrability, course stability and crew comfort is vastly superior.”
