Within the Realisation and Demonstration of Advanced Material Solutions for Sustainable and Efficient Ships (RAMSSES) project, led by Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding (DSNS) and Damen Shipyards Gorinchem (DSGo) in cooperation with InfraCore Company, Evonik, Airborne UK and TNO, a 6m high hull section made out of composite material has been developed scaling up the composite technology and capability to design, produce and market complete composite vessels up to 85 m length that comply with SOLAS and class regulations.

The partners have pioneered the capability to infuse thick laminates up to 6 meters in height that represent full ship hull structures, in a steel shipyard environment. The demonstration of this capability took place on September 15th at Damen’s Vlissingen-Oost yard in the Netherlands, attended by a corona-safe audience participating by live online connection. The event was part of the General Assembly of the RAMSSES project hosted by Damen and Netherlands Maritime Technology. This is a major milestone for the RAMSSES project and will contribute to accelerated market uptake of composite materials in the maritime sector and on larger vessels.

Unique in this demonstrator project is that the whole cycle from product design, novel resin development, alternative fibre architectures, novel joining solutions, scaling up infusion technology, validation of large composite structures, and its risk based design are being developed and tested, all under the auspices of classification society Bureau Veritas (BV). There are numerous benefits to composite shipbuilding – chief amongst which is the contribution composites make towards greater maritime efficiency and sustainability. A composite vessel like the one the RAMSSES partners are working towards would weigh up to 40% less than a steel equivalent. The results of this are a considerable reduction in both fuel consumption and emissions. In fact, a composite vessel can offer a reduction in global warming potential, aerosol formation potential, eutrophication potential, acidification potential and fuel consumption by up to 25%.