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120 REPAIR & CONVERSION | KAREL DOORMAN 121

n 5 of March, the Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN) Joint Support Ship (JSS) Zr.Ms. Karel
th
Doorman entered dry dock no.4 at Damen Shiprepair Amsterdam (DSAm) to begin her the Netherland’s Directie Materiële Instandhouding (DMI) which As well as its excellent planning skills, DSAm also has the advantage
has overall responsibility for the project, has issued 320, covering
Ofirst five-year maintenance programme. This was to be no ordinary maintenance and repair almost every system and space on board what is, after all, an of experience gained in 2018 from a lifetime extension programme
undertaken on the RNLN’s 20-year old, 166-metre, amphibious
programme, but then again, the Karel Doorman is no ordinary ship. The 205-metre vessel is the exceptionally complex vessel. warfare ship HNLMS Rotterdam, also built by DSNS. As a dress-
largest and most complex vessel in the RNLN, and she was built by Damen, largely at Damen rehearsal for the much larger Zr.Ms. Karel Doorman it provided
Shipyards Galati, Romania, under the supervision of Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding in Vlissingen. The orders cover everything from the cleaning of all the tanks valuable experience and insights into the equipment and issues
that the DSAm team would be facing in the coming year.
and servicing all the valves to painting the exterior hull and
In August 2013 she was transferred to Vlissingen for the completion of her outfitting, commissioning topsides and removing all the electrical equipment for serving
and sea trials before being handed over to the navy in September 2014. and replacement where necessary. The elevators and the lifeboat A win-win for all
cranes are also undergoing maintenance and the rudders have Projects of this size and complexity bring many benefits. Building
been removed and their bearings and aft seals inspected. And and maintaining advanced naval vessels within the Damen family
FIVE YEARS ON DAMEN SHIPREPAIR that’s just the beginning. However, one major area will not be not only benefits the company, it creates and nurtures a pool of
experience and expertise that ensures that the Netherlands retains
subject to works by the DSAm team and their subcontractors, and
AMSTERDAM PERFORMS KAREL that is her military systems and anything else of a sensitive nature. the capability to build its own next-generation vessels and keep
them in top condition, now and in the future, in its own yards. It
These were all removed at the RNLN base at Den Helder for their
also ensures that the wider Dutch naval sector remains innovative,
own, separate, maintenance programme before the vessel came to
DOORMAN REFIT Amsterdam. efficient and diverse, as evidenced by the many companies involved
with the Zr.Ms. Karel Doorman, which boosts exports.
Taking planning to a new level
With so many components and systems requiring specialist The Zr.Ms. Karel Doorman is scheduled to leave Damen Shiprepair
attention it is not surprising that there are 119 different companies Amsterdam in July this year, having spent five months in the dry
A complex vessel for a multi-purpose role exceptionally durable vessel under even the most adverse and organisations involved in the works, as well as the ship’s very dock having every inch of her inspected and checked. From there
She was designed and built to take on a wide-ranging role conditions. Defensive systems include two Goalkeeper anti-missile helpful officers and crew. With so many stakeholders on board, she will return to Den Helder where she will undergo another six
including maritime support, replenishment at sea, supply storage, units, two 30 millimetre machine guns and a CHAFF decoy system, often overlapping in the areas that they need to access, the use of months of work, including replacing the ‘special systems’ that were
loading and unloading of supplies, transport of equipment and plus short-range machine guns. Propulsion is diesel-electric with integrated master planning to model every activity taking place is removed at the start, before starting
personnel, and technical and logistical support. 2,000 lane metres five main generators and a DP-1 dynamic positioning system. In vital to ensure that everyone is in the right place at the right time, another, no doubt busy, five years.
of cargo capacity allows her to carry an exceptional quantity of keeping with the Damen philosophy of building navy ships, she working smoothly and efficiently alongside each other. One team,
stores, while a helicopter deck designed to operate two Chinooks incorporated as many commercial techniques and components as one task, is the underlying philosophy that keeps everyone focused
simultaneously allows her to deliver supplies over distances of possible, adding military-grade equipment only where it was really on what they need to do. DSNS, with all its accumulated knowledge
500 kilometres or more. Other delivery systems include two needed. from the original build, is also playing a vital role
replenishment-at-sea masts for fuel transfer, a stern beach for in the project at every level.
cargo transfer via landing craft that can be sunk to a metre below Five years on and after many thousands of nautical miles on various
the waterline, and RoRo capability. missions including delivering humanitarian support to ebola victims
in Sierra Leone and undertaking hurricane relief operations in
The vessel features the latest in command and control systems, the Caribbean following the passage of Hurricane Irma in 2017,
and a high level of automation, multiple she is now in DSAm for a repair and maintenance programme of
redundancy and internal armouring exceptional thoroughness and detail.
for critical areas make her an
No stone left unturned
A five year maintenance programme for a commercial vessel usually
involves around 50 separate projects, each detailed in an individual
technical specification order. For the Zr.Ms. Karel Doorman,