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Feadship set for Major Shipyard Expansion
Feadship has announced the expansion of their Royal Van Lent Shipyard facilities on Kaag Island. The Dutch shipyard has decided to extend underground in order to build even larger yachts in the coming years.
Feadship has been building increasingly larger yachts over the years and has now announced the expansion of the Royal Van Lent shipyard in order to facilitate the company's growth. Construction is due to start in August 2012. The first phase will see the hall doors widened and the dry-dock door moved five metres forward to provide the space necessary to fit the long propeller shafts on larger yachts.
Phase two will see the shipyard's two slipways, currently built on wood, changed and modernised to accommodate yachts over 45m as Royal Van Lent are planning to primarily concentrate on yachts over 60m. The modernisation of the slipways is scheduled to begin in August this year and will involve work underground.
The shipyard also plans to action the widening of the locks in the nearby city of Gouda from 12 to 14 metres and the bridges in the towns of Oude and Nieuwe Wetering will be extended, allowing wider yachts to pass through.
Like its fellow Feadship yard Koninklijke De Vries Scheepsbouw, the investment to increase and expand their facilities in order to build larger superyachts will cost some several million Euros, with a completion date estimated to be 2012.