On Thursday, April 5th, the second Damen Multi Cat (MuC) 3213 was delivered to dredging major Van Oord at Damen Shipyard’s HQ in Gorinchem (The Netherlands).
In the presence of both the Van Oord and Damen families, the MuC 3213 was named ‘Cronus’ by Ms Kora Huijser-Eland. Cronus and her sister vessel Oceanus (delivered Dec 2011) are the first of their type and the two biggest Multi Cats ever built worldwide. The workboat was built by Damen Shipyards Hardinxveld (The Netherlands) and delivered two months before the contractual delivery date.
Since her delivery Oceanus has been working for the Athena, Van Oord’s largest self-propelled Cutter Suction Dredger (CSD), in Portugal, Kenya and Dubai. Currently, she is docked for maintenance at Albwardy Marine Engineering (a joint venture between Damen and Albwardy Investment, Dubai). Based on the first client feedback a few adaptations are made to the vessel to boost its efficiency. Before going to work for Artemis (Athena’s sister CSD) the same upgrades will be made for Cronus.
The workboat made a trial-speed of 10.8 knots and 28.5 tonnes bollard pull. Both Multi Cats have a 340 ton-metre fore crane and a 80 ton-metre aft crane. The fore crane is equipped with a constant tensioning winch. They have an enlarged depth, allowing the working deck to be 1.10 m above the waterline (normally: 80-90 cm). In addition to anchor and pipeline handling, the 3213 will deliver supplies, water and fuel oil.
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Source: Damen, April 6, 2012