Damen Shiprepair Vlissingen opens sports field for visiting crews, sponsors and employees

The experience and expertise that Damen Shiprepair Vlissingen (DSV) provides its clients is well-known. This is evidenced by the large number of shipowners who send their ships to the DSV yard in Vlissingen-Oost for various maintenance, refit, repair and conversion jobs. Despite the already wide range of services the yard offers its clients, DSV recently expanded its facilities even further with the official opening of the DSV sports field.

DSV’s HR Manager Sebastian Schipper explains the reason for the initiative: “A lot of ships visit our yard every year. Some stay for weeks, but others – a superyacht refit, for example – can stay for up to four or five months. And very often the crews of these ships stay with their vessel during the project. In the case of a superyacht, this could be up to 80 people.”

For those visiting crews, it’s fair to say that there is not much to do in terms of recreation in the vicinity of Vlissingen-Oost. “That’s why we have built this sports field,” Sebastian says. “We wanted to give something back to our clients, to give their crews something to do during their stay with us.”

The new sports field is located just outside the security gates at the Damen terrain, next to the Mission to Seafarers ‘zeemanshuis’. It was officially opened on 26 November, with a number of sponsors coming to see their advertising boards. It has been set up as a football field and basketball court with artificial grass. “And maybe when the weather is better, volleyball will also be possible. We’ve heard good feedback from ship crews about the sports field. In fact, the Vroon crew has been using the basketball court already,” adds Sebastian. He also wants to point out that the DSV sports field is open to Damen employees too. “Maybe the other Damen companies in Vlissingen would like to use it, maybe we could organise a small tournament!”