Albwardy Damen has received an award for its innovative design of the new Damen Multibuster 8020 shallow draught, multi-purpose vessel.
The award was presented at the MASTECH international marine technical conference, held on board the QE2 floating hotel in the UAE.
Albwardy Damen has been developing the Multibuster 8020 offshore workboat for the past two years in close consultation with a number of oil majors, operators and potential clients in the Gulf region.
Over that time the size of the vessel has grown as clients have sought additional capability.
While the Multibuster 8020 is 80ms in length, making it the largest vessel to be built at Albwardy Damen Sharjah to date, it will also be available in 60m and 70m versions.
The award was based on a number of factors that make this vessel highly unusual. Its design draught of just 3.5m is exceptional for a vessel of this size and makes it ideal for the shallow waters of the Arabian Gulf as well as elsewhere in the world.
It also has a deck strength between the stern roller and the anchor handling and tow winch, 800 m² in total, of 10 or even 20 tonnes per square metre as standard, in comparison to the usual 3 to 5 tonnes.
The rationale for this is that it saves time and expense by making the deck ready to take any equipment or fulfil any operation without further modification, whether it be the installation of a walk-to-work gangway, a heavy crane or a 14-metre cable carousel.
