“In addition to the corona crisis, which has affected us all at work and in our private lives, we also lost a much-valued colleague after a long illness. It has been a tough period for everyone, during which we as a yard were able to show our social side,” says Managing Director Peter Sterkenburg of Damen Shiprepair Vlissingen as he looks back on 2020.

“It shows the strength of our colleagues that we can take the time to reflect at such an emotional moment, but can then turn the switch to get back to work. Thanks to this commitment and flexibility, we were able to close 2020 on a positive note.”

DSV had to deal with a sharp drop in turnover over the previous year. “But by paying close attention to our costs, we were able to close the year with a profit,” says Peter. DSV saw clients postpone sizeable contracts, which included working on mega yachts, until 2021 due to corona. “The market has shifted somewhat,” says Peter. “We brought in 2020 slightly less of the really large foreign orders. Due to the international travel restrictions, representatives of shipping companies could not fly to the Netherlands, leading to ship-owners deciding to repair their ships in their own countries. On the other hand, our order book from the Netherlands increased slightly.”

We brought in 2020 slightly less of the really large foreign orders

In 2020, and coordinated with Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding, DSV compiled a Covid-19 protocol to handle the corona crisis as well as possible. “Of course, we shared the protocol with our customers and our subcontractors. It was also all new to us; it was a situation that, because of the rapid developments, sometimes you did not immediately know what to do. Fortunately, our crisis team was always able to respond quickly and accurately when new measures were announced by the Dutch Cabinet. Out of approximately 110 employees, less than two percent were sick. And we had some colleagues at home because, for example, their partner had become ill. ”

According to the Managing Director, “as long as corona doesn’t get in our way too much”, 2021 will be another good year for DSV. As well as mega yacht projects on the horizon, the yard is expecting the arrival of the Portuguese ex-M-class frigate Don Francisco de Almeida, which will spend about five months in Dock 2 at Vlissingen-Oost for an extensive refit. “Hopefully it will be a year in which we can all get back to work in good health!”

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