Dutch shipyard hands over river cruisers

The newly built 135m long River Discovery II has since made its way to Amsterdam where it was christened at the end of last week.

It is a new generation cruise vessel with a “classic retro look”, but with all the “latest technologies”.

Shipyard De Hoop built its vessel for Vantage eleven years ago, but this is the first time that it has built a ship of 135m – the maximum allowed by EU Regulations for river cruisers.

The second ship – the 135m MS River Splendor will be delivered in early 2013. The third ship, the 110m MS River Venture will be delivered later in the same year. Production has not yet started on the fourth ship, as yet unnamed.

Patrick Janssens, Shipyard De Hoop’s owner, said to The Motorship: “The inland waterway market is developing even faster than most people expected. On the popular rivers, the amount of cruises (and choice) has increased enormously. More and more new markets are opening up. Vessels are being developed for the Yangtzee, the Mekong river and even for the Amazon.”

He added: “Shipowners are more than ever targeting their particular market segment. With this comes a package of special needs which varies per client. De Hoop sees therefore a good future in custom building of inland cruise vessels. In general, requirements for comfort (more space, low noise levels, extra services, etc.) are growing. Then there are special considerations like the environment and fuel cost savings. De Hoop focuses on high quality and reliability at an affordable price. The biggest advantage for the shipowner is that every design is a one off and tailor-made for their client.”

The new vessels are powered with two Caterpillar C32 engines in combination with Veth rudder propellers – hence they are classified as green ships with tier 2 low emissions. The ships are equipped with LED lighting with 2,600 lights using 3W instead of 445W resulting in huge energy savings.

Shipyard De Hoop design and build both sea-going and inland waterway vessels.