Largest Dutch shipbuilder, Damen, trims operations worldwide

Photo: Raimond Spekking via Wikimedia Commons

Damen Shipyards, the largest shipbuilding group in the Netherlands, is cutting down its operations globally, said the Financieele Dagblad on Monday.

Capacity in group shipyards in France, Romania, China, Singapore and Vietnam is being reduced and ‘several hundred’ jobs are being eliminated. But these will mainly be temporary staff, not full-time employees, the company said.

In the Netherlands about 150 jobs will be cut at two Rotterdam repair yards and one in Vlissingen.

Damen operates 32 shipyards around the world. The group has a worldwide payroll of 9,000, one-third of them in the Netherlands.

The crisis in the offshore sector and falling oil prices has resulted in less work for Damen’s repair yards in the Netherlands and abroad. Damen earned €29.4m on turnover of 1.8bn in 2016, down from a profit of €73.4m on record sales of €2.1bn the previous year.

Market recovery in the offshore sector is not yet in sight, and the market for offshore windfarms has been hit by delays, Damen said. The order book stands at €2.75bn.

Thank you for donating to DutchNews.nl.

We could not provide the Dutch News service, and keep it free of charge, without the generous support of our readers. Your donations allow us to report on issues you tell us matter, and provide you with a summary of the most important Dutch news each day.

Make a donation