The Netherlands: Shipyard De Hoop Expands Its Service Facilities

Following the recent substantial upgrade of the Lobith shipyard, which now boasts a complete range of ‘state of the art’ facilities, the yard is well equipped to perform new building as well as refits, conversions and upgrades. However, in response to the rapidly growing (inland) cruising market, Shipyard De Hoop has recently expanded its repair and service facilities even further to accommodate the increasing demand.

This has not gone unnoticed by ship owners and cruise lines, as can be demonstrated by the busy times at the Repair division of De Hoop.

This year De Hoop Shiprepair anticipates an impressive series of vessels to visit the yard for major or minor modifications. Amongst the line-up are: River Discovery II, River Navigator, Bizet, River Melody, River Harmony, River Rhapsody and River Concerto as well as the Amadeus Symphony, Amadeus Classic, Amadeus Princess, Amadeus Diamond, Amadeus Elegant and Amadeus Brilliant. Services vary from maintenance and repair works to complete interior refits as well as conversions or installing new equipment such as engines, thrusters or sewage treatment systems and water makers.

Many conversions are initiated in response to the growing focus on the environment and the revision of various rules and regulations to meet these requirements. For example, the regulations regarding the sewage treatment are gradually increasing, thus requirements to fit more substantial sewage plants on board vessels has become necessary. This also applies for inland river cruise vessels. For De Hoop this presents interesting challenges in upgrading a lot of grey and black water systems on board of the above vessels. Using their knowledge of the latest (and sometimes anticipated) requirements of Rules & Regulations, clients can be offered practical solutions for keeping their vessels compliant.

This growing demand in the market has already triggered various styling and interior refits, leading to interesting contributions to De Hoops refit order book. For example, the River Navigator will get all the passenger cabins completely refitted with a new interior, whilst on the Amadeus Classic the windows of the passenger cabins will be enlarged to ‘French balconies’. While the steelworkers are modifying the structure and preparing the vessel for outfitting, De Hoop’s interior department is mounting above new interiors.

In addition to the vast experience and extensive toolbox of their staff, De Hoop has recently invested in the purchase of laser equipment with which the alignment of engines, generators and thrusters can be inspected and if necessary repaired. The machinists in Lobith and Foxhol have had thorough training in use of this equipment and are now even better equipped to handle all practical challenges in this field.