Close to the client – wherever they may be. Damen believes in the importance of being close to its clients. This belief is key to Damen’s provision of support throughout the lifecycle of its products. One way this is achieved is via the international network of Damen Service Hubs. With these, the company helps to keep its clients’ assets in optimal condition with services that are fast, friendly and – crucially – local.
Damen Services Canada Victoria
Juriaan Jellema
Beating the clock
Damen has been providing local support in British Columbia, Canada since 2019 explains Service Hub Manager Jurriaan Jellema. Today Damen Services Canada covers the entire eastern and western coastline of Canada. “It started when we delivered the first Island Class vessels to BC Ferries. There was a requirement to provide local warranty support. Initially, we did this by partnering up with Point Hope Maritime in Victoria.”
As Damen delivered more vessels to the region, however, the benefits of a permanent local presence became apparent. “Given the nine hour time difference with the Netherlands, the normal warranty procedure just wouldn’t work if there was a critical situation,” Jurriaan says. “Being here, we see the needs of the client and are able to respond quickly.”
Service on a significant scale
Jurriaan arrived in the country in 2021 in order to develop a permanent Service Hub in Canada. In 2024, Damen opened its facilities in Victoria, where it continues to work closely with Point Hope Maritime and other local partners.
The Canadian hub’s service provision spans a considerable chunk of the map. While the majority of its work takes place on the west coast, on a North American scale, even this involves vast distances. “We have clients in Port Rupert. Like us, they’re in British Columbia, but they are 20 hours away by road and 24 hours by water.” How does the hub manage to take care of its clients over such great distances? “Our secret is our people. I’m very proud of my team. They are flexible and extremely passionate about what they do. We work hard to answer our clients’ needs, and they see that.”
Hullo Ferries
Xander France
Community care
Xander France from Hullo Ferries, located in British Columbia, demonstrates this, saying: “The local presence and the service perspective is one of the reasons we chose to order our vessels from Damen. To maintain the faith and trust of the local community, it’s essential that we provide a reliable service. Damen’s footprint in Victoria is hugely significant for this; we know that if we need in-depth support, it’s only a short sail away.”
It’s not only the customers who appreciate Damen’s local presence; Jurriaan says that the local community have also expressed their opinion. “One time we had a ferry out of service on the islands. We sent a team out and they quickly solved the problem. Afterwards, they were sailing back with the vessel in their Damen gear when one of the crew pointed to them and said, ‘these are the guys who fixed the ship’. All the passengers started cheering and clapping.”
Damen Services Germany
Ole Rodegro
A physical presence in Germany
Ole Rodegro, Manager of Damen Services Germany, the Service Hub located in Hamburg, also sees that the local presence has helped to cultivate good relationships with clients. “As a result of being here in Germany, we have very close relationships locally with customers – both the crews and the technical management – and also with the local supplier network.” Being locally present, he says, is a clear advantage for maritime operators throughout the region. “It’s a lot easier for me, based in Hamburg, to be physically present with our customers in Germany and the Baltic region, than it is for someone in the Netherlands. It means we can respond quicker.”
Fairplay
Captain Philipp Haehnke
Unique warranty support
Philipp Haehnke is Captain of the Fairplay 95, a Damen RSD Tug 2513 operating in the Port of Hamburg. He agrees with Ole, saying, “For me, it’s very nice to be able to communicate with the team in German and that we can reach them so quickly and easily.
“We have a very close connection with the Damen team here. They are very proactive in their work, regularly coming onboard to make sure that everything is working optimally and done according to schedule. I’ve never seen warranty support like this before.”
First portal of call
The Damen way of working, he says, is particularly helpful in ensuring efficiency. “Onboard we have access to Damen via the MyDamen portal. With this, we can make contact directly if there is an issue, without having to first call our Superintendent. This really speeds up the reaction – and helps reduce the pressure on the Superintendent too.”
Following its initial successes in providing support to local clients during their warranty periods, Damen Services Germany is looking to expand its reach in the coming years. “As the warranty contracts come to a close, we have the capacity to provide more support to our clients throughout the region with ongoing maintenance or in the event of a critical situation arising. We’ve certainly got plans for growth,” states Ole.
Damen Shiprepair Harbour & Voyage
Ruby Warnaar and Jozeph Quak
Whenever & wherever
In addition to its Service Hubs, Damen has another means of operating close to its clients – Damen Shiprepair Harbour and Voyage (DSHV). With this, Damen provides on-site and on-voyage support, wherever and whenever needed. DSHV Managing Director Jozeph Quak explains. “When a client comes to us, typically a critical situation has arisen, and they need a rapid response. We aim to provide that with a global presence, and 24-7 availability.” The DSHV service has grown continually since its start in 2017. Back then, it was a small riding team taking on repair projects on vessels up to 150 metres in the Port of Rotterdam. Today, DSHV is operating all over the world on vessels of all sizes and types.
Support on the water
Jozeph and his team specialise in being optimally flexible, always ready to respond when the unexpected happens. He offers an example of a recent project that DSHV undertook in Curaçao. “We were overhauling the thrusters of a large drilling ship. Our client wanted to undertake the project without having to drydock. To do this on the water is a completely different operation, requiring a full team, a barge, a crane and a lot of preparation.”It was at this point, that a twist emerged in the plot. DSHV Sales Manager Ruby Warnaar takes up the story.
“While we were busy with this project, we received a call from another customer. One of their bulk carriers operating in the Caribbean had experienced a fire in the engine room and the vessel was completely out of action.
“Thankfully, having people working in Curaçao already, we were able to respond very quickly. We got a team on board to conduct an inspection and were able to arrange local subcontractors to support us. As soon as the vessel had been towed to Curaçao, we got to work. Within just six weeks we completed the project, and the vessel was back in action.”
Utmost discretion assured
DSHV is also specialised in working on vessels underway – and is able to do so with utmost discretion when required. “We got a call from a client in the cruise industry asking us to go onboard and replace a crank shaft,” says Jozeph. “At the time there were 3,000 passengers onboard, enjoying their vacation in the Mediterranean.
The project requirements were quite specific; the whole thing had to be completed in a 24-hour window during a port call and the passengers were not to be inconvenienced in any way. “We managed to get the job done in 22 hours, and no one on board ever knew we were there. The client was very satisfied with the outcome and has since booked another, even larger, project with us.”