Damen Group presents a united front at the biennial BALTEXPO event

From October 10^th to the 12^th, over 200 exhibitors from 15 countries welcomed more than 5,000 visitors to the Gdańsk International Fair BALTEXPO. The biennial event brings together the maritime community from across the Baltic region to view the latest products and services, and to share ideas and insights. With the Baltic Sea increasingly seen as a prime site for offshore wind farms given its shallow waters, and demand increasing for other vessel classes, this year the Damen Group decided to showcase the breadth of its capabilities in the wind farm and other sectors, alongside its existing activities in the region.

Damen’s companies based in Poland – Damen Engineering Gdańsk (DEG), Damen Shipyards Gdynia (Damen Yachting) Damen Marine Components Gdańsk and Damen Shipyards Koźle – were joined by representatives of Damen Naval. Together they demonstrated the variety of the group’s capabilities and synergies, whilst remaining One Damen and sharing the same commitments to sustainability, customer focus, digitisation and operational excellence.

Kasia Romantowska, managing director of DEG, said, “We had plenty of interest in our combined capabilities at the show. The conference that took place at the same time also provided a forum for sharing knowledge and opinions.” Ms Romantowska also took part as a panellist in a discussion about current trends in maritime decarbonisation, an area in which Damen is an international leader. Elsewhere, DEG also organised a workshop in cooperation with Technical University Gdańsk to look at Damen’s current research and development programmes, and to examine the challenges of decarbonisation in more detail.

At the event Damen also had a number of enquiries about Damen’s SOV and CSOV walk-to-work vessels, and its proven range of Fast Crew Supply (FCS) boats. As these are the types of vessels that play a major role in maintaining wind turbines, they have a vital role in ensuring that the electricity keeps on flowing.

Another market in the Baltic region that is seeing a surge in demand is that of security and defence, given the current troubles. Damen has many years of experience in this area and a portfolio of proven designs that can be seen all over the world.

“Our overall goal is to raise our profile and present Damen as an attractive partner for anyone who is, or wants to be, active in the Baltic maritime sector,” adds Romantowska. “Our many years of experience and our R&D capabilities are a valuable asset in navigating the many changes that are now taking place. Our many proven designs deliver confidence while maintaining flexibility to meets the individual needs of each customer.”

On the top image from left to right: Otwin Gunther (Product Director, Damen Naval), Herm Jan de Vries (Manager Operations, Damen Engineering Gdańsk), Kasia Romantowska-Jaskólska (Managing Director, Damen Engineering Gdańsk), Wojciech Gałkowski (Manager Operations, Damen Shipyards Gdynia), Ryszard Stawarz (Engineering Manager, Damen Engineering Gdańsk), Dorota Wężyk Olko (Supply Chain Manager, Damen Engineering Gdańsk), Robert Guzdzik (Senior Engineer, Damen Engineering Gdańsk), Grzegorz Błondek (Quality Manager, Damen Engineering Gdańsk), Katarzyna Jung-Denz (HR and Administrative Manager, Damen Shipyards Gdynia), Anna Koszałka (Lead Engineer, Damen Engineering Gdańsk), Joanna Reichel (Section Leader-Stability/Interior/S.C, Damen Engineering Gdańsk), Andrzej Denz (Managing Director, Damen Shipyards Gdynia), Piotr Ingielewicz (Technical Manager, Damen Marine Components Gdańsk), Marcin Szymański (Subcontracting Specialist, Damen Shipyards Koźle), Jacek Małek (Managing Director, Damen Shipyards Koźle)