New Customs Patrol Vessels

Damen Shipyards announced that a keel laying ceremony took place for the first of two Customs Vessels built for the Dutch Customs Service. The new ships will be part of the operational fleet of Customs District Amsterdam. The vessels are of the Damen Stan Patrol 4207 type and delivery is planned for December 2001. Each vessel is 42.8 m long, 7.1 m wide and will be fitted with a davit launched RIB. Vessels have steel hull and a superstructure of aluminium.

Propulsion plant consists of two Caterpillar engines 3516B DI-TA with a total output of 4176 kW at 1880 rpm, each driving a variable pitch propeller. Trial speed is 22,5 knot. Two Caterpillar gensets type 3306B DI-TA each developing 180 kVA at 1500 rpm supplies electrical power.The special design of the hull will result in substantial improvement in sea keeping behaviour relative to conventional high-speed vessels. By using the so-called "enlarged ship concept" developed in cooperation with the Technical University Delft, ship motions will be largely reduced. Reduced resistance results in higher speeds and better fuel economy.