Damen Naval Oktoberfest: celebrating success with an enjoyable beer festival

For the first time in almost two years, Damen Naval was able to organise a company event. The company pulled out all the stops for an Oktoberfest to thank the staff for their hard work since the start of the corona pandemic and to celebrate the success of the F126 project. Hall 2 of Vlissingen-Oost was transformed into a traditional beer hall with blue and white decorations, rows of festively laid tables, live music, bratwurst and other delicacies and special beer mugs.

It was such a stormy day that the entrance tent was almost blown away and so had to be anchored down. Fortunately, the worst of the rain had just passed when the more than 350 guests arrived. Once inside, they were welcomed with freshly tapped beer in special F126 beer mugs, served by four ladies in dirndls.

Managing Director Hein van Ameijden, wearing his own Bavarian hat, opened the evening with a speech in which he called on all colleagues to be especially proud of the hard work done in recent years. “I am so happy about our first party in a long time and that we can finally get together again. We’ve been working really hard lately, and sometimes a little harder than we’d like,” he told us from the podium, with a large banner of the F126 project behind him. “That’s unfortunately how it is now. We are busy with F126 and at the same time there are other projects that make demands on people. To put it simply: we are working too hard. We hope it is temporary. We have recruited many new staff, and we will continue to attract new colleagues.”

He continued his speech with the advice: “Enjoy life and be proud of what we have achieved, because what we have achieved is fantastic. I am not only talking about the F126, but also about the preparation of new projects and, last but not least, the Nuyina: our favourite girl. This ship is a source of pride. I strongly recommend that people watch her arrival in Hobart on the Internet, because in my opinion this is the most beautiful ship we have ever built.”

In his closing remarks, he invited those present to take home one of the beer mugs. “The beer mug is a gift from us to you, so please take home a mug, just one, and cherish it for the rest of your lives. Enjoy and prosit!”

SEC Catering had prepared an extensive menu with traditional Oktoberfest dishes such as currywurst and bradwurst on bread, schweinshax’n – that’s roasted ham on the bone – Wiener schnitzel and a soup and salad buffet. There were also bags of chips and, for dessert, pancakes with ice cream and fresh fruit.

Live entertainment was provided by Palemiger Spatze, who describe themselves as the ‘No Nonsense Tiroler Party Band par excellence’. With instruments such as the Styrian harmonica, the alphorn, a horn section, drums and guitars, they brought the Oktoberfest to life. There was also the Bierpulslide game, which proved popular throughout the evening. The evening ended around eight o’clock, after which the guests returned home with their own F126 beer mugs. “It was great to finally be able to celebrate something together again,” said Hein. “Hopefully we won’t have to wait another year for the next party.”