HOW WE BUILD
Royal Bodewes has its own project teams designing all vessels, and by working in close contact with its co-makers the best result for everyone can be achieved. With these project teams, Royal Bodewes creates a wide variety of ship types in accordance with the wishes of its customers.Innovative designers and engineers enables the client to have their specific demands realized. With reliable and well-organized building methods the vessel delivery times are guaranteed.
DESIGN & ENGINEERING
The interaction between the engineering department and the actual building site play an important role in an economically efficient building process. Royal Bodewes uses a design software package based on 3D modelling, which provides a unique hull-, machinery-,piping-, outfitting, and interior design functionality. Together with the possibility to create production information the engineering process leads to a cost efficient and effective design.
BUILDING PROCESS
Royal Bodewes expanded its building locations abroad in order to increase its production capacity, with currently building locations in The Netherlands (Jachtwijk and Verstockt in Hoogezand), Germany (Papenburg) and Poland (Gdansk and Stettin). On the various building sites of Royal Bodewes the bottom and side sections are assembled. The steel plates and profiles come “ready to be mounted” from various suppliers. The plates and profiles are being painted and assembled as a section. The big advantage of indoor building is that work can proceed regardless of weather conditions. Painting takes place under controlled conditions, and this keeps the ship owner’s maintenance costs low. In the ‘red hall’ of location Jachtwijk, The Netherlands, all the finished sections can be mounted together. During this process, the aft, the middle and the forepart of the vessel are assembled into blocks. All the paint works will be executed before the blocks are transported to the quay of the building site, where the section parts will be combined. When the blocks are laying on the launching quay, all parts are lined up and are welded together. At this stage the ship will be ready to launch!
TOUCHING WATER FOR THE FIRST TIME
!In Hoogezand, we offer the unique transverse launching of a vessel, celebrating that a brand-new vessel touches water for the first time. The festive and spectacular event attracts people from all over the world. Shortly after the christening, the official vessel’s name will be exposed, and the ship will be launched. The ship launching process imposes stresses on the ship not met during normal operations, representing a considerable engineering challenge. It is always possible to visit a launching of a ship. On the other side of the canal, opposite of the yard, you can obtain a perfect view of the launching spectacle. In some cases the shipyard itself will be open to public. Please follow our website to check the latest news updates.
WORD OF A GODMOTHER
The naval tradition of a ship christening and launching ceremony dates back thousands of years. Intended to bless the ship and wish her good luck during her voyages, the Godmother is supposed to christen the ship by breaking a sacrificial bottle of champagne over the bow. “The christening ceremony is undoubtedly a nervous moment for the Godmother. However, from my experience I can tell that the launching day of the UAL Bodewes is one of the most exciting and beautiful days I have experienced” – Nienke Bodewes.
READY TO SAIL!
After the ship has been launched, she will receive a finishing touch in terms of outfitting, carpentry and paint works. When the vessel has successfully been finalized, the vessel will be towed to the harbor of Delfzijl or Eemshaven where sea trials are commenced. Just before sea trials systems which can be commissioned will be started up by the suppliers. During sea trials the rest of the systems will be tested for class approval and introduced to the crew. Royal Bodewes stands for quality and only wants to provide best services to its customers. By means of sea trials we want to make sure we only deliver excellent products, functioning as negotiated beforehand. In other words, the technical limits of the ship will be tested before she leaves for her voyages around the world.
VIDEO
To get a brief impression, the short video on the left displays several launchings on the Bodewes yard in Hoogezand. You can find more videos about our organization in our video gallery or on our YouTube channel 'Royal Bodewes'.