In a prestigious project, Dutch shipbuilding group Damen has constructed a new jack-up unit with heavy-lift capability by combining two older jack-up platforms with a newly built mid-section. The vessel has now been officially christened.
The naming ceremony for “Obana”, a self-elevating heavy-lift jack-up, took place yesterday at Damen Shiprepair Rotterdam’s Botlek site.
The project began in 2021, when decommissioning specialist Petrodec developed an innovative solution for dismantling complex offshore platforms in the British sector of the North Sea.
After evaluating several options, Petrodec opted to merge two used jack-up vessels into a single unit. The existing platforms were transported to Rotterdam, while the new mid-section was fabricated in Dubai. Ahead of its arrival in November 2024, a 2,000-tonne Liebherr crane from Rostock was delivered to the Netherlands and installed at Mammoet’s facilities.
On December 13, the three sections were moved into Dry Dock No. 7 at Damen Shiprepair – the largest dry dock in Western Europe, measuring 405 by 90 meters. “The size was crucial, as the combined width of the three sections was 80 by 230 meters,” Damen stated during the ceremony.
Before docking, the shipyard had prepared the bow and stern sections. Once the units were positioned using hydraulic jacks, welding operations commenced. Four new passageways were created to connect the front and rear sections via the new mid-section. According to Damen, approximately 300 tonnes of steel were added during this phase.
Additionally, reinforcement structures and foundations were installed for “Obana’s” two 60-tonne cranes and the jib support of the main crane, requiring another 200 tonnes of steel. Damen specialists also assisted in mounting the crane bases and the jib support. Further work included connecting the piping systems across all three sections and painting the outer shell, cavities, collapsed zones, and parts of the main deck. After undocking, Obana was completed.
Peter Altena, Managing Director at Damen Shiprepair Rotterdam, said: “This was an exciting and unique project, and we are very proud of the result. In total, we worked 500,000 hours without a single lost time incident — a great achievement and a testament to the excellent partnership between Petrodec and Damen Shiprepair. Together, we’ve written a small piece of history.”
