INTERVIEW WITH VUYK ENGINEERING

Vuyk Engineering Rotterdam is an independent maritime engineering company based in the Netherlands, specialised in complex and one-off projects. They are known for finding design solutions for high performance construction vessels, tailor-made ship conversions, mission equipment design and marine-operational engineering. The company has designed some of the most complex technical solutions for leading contractors and marine industry players around the globe.

Easy Engineering: What are the ranges of products?

Vuyk Engineering: What sets us apart in the maritime market is that three engineering specialisms are represented in one office: vessel design and conversion, equipment design and operational engineering. We call this our trifecta focus: the design and modification of ships, the design of all the necessary mission equipment, such as gangways, chutes or cranes, and calculations of, for example, stability, workability and motions in the given environment conditions. 

Offshore work requires efficiency and safety in all circumstances. Our team of more than 100 experienced engineers has a strong focus on safety, reliability, and compliance with industry’s standards, ensuring that our design solutions meet the highest quality and performance requirements. Our services vary from complete design packages to conversion scopes, and from preliminary calculations to on-site support. We serve clients in sectors such as dredging, offshore wind, oil and gas and heavy lifting.

E.E: What can you tell us about market trends?

Vuyk Engineering: We notice that the maritime market is constantly evolving, and recognize that several trends are currently shaping the industry. Most notable are environmental regulations in Europe, application of alternative fuels and automation. Trends that are forcing the market to adopt sustainable practices. We provide our expertise to significantly reduce and minimise emissions and optimize efficiency by using the latest state-of-the art software.

Achieving sustainable shipping requires a broad, interdisciplinary approach that adresses environmental, social and economic aspects. We support our customers to comply with new regulations, but also consider the economic feasibility, which means balancing the costs of implementing sustainability measures with the benefits they bring. 

E.E: What are the most innovative products marketed?

Vuyk Engineering: We are heavily involved in the next steps in offshore wind and dredging. Having recently worked on projects such as Bokalift 2 and world’s first DP2 SWATH Service Operation Vessel Groenewind, we have a considerable track record when it comes to designing state of the art vessels and mission equipment. 

A couple of months ago, we also presented our vision on future foundation installation vessels, keeping in mind that wind turbines are continuously evolving. They are getting bigger, and capacities of more than 15 megawatts will no longer be an exception in the coming years. But when wind turbines and capacities are continuously growing, the capacity of current foundation installation vessels may be a limiting factor in the near future. Responding to the demand for larger capacities, we recently presented our new foundation installation vessel VERticale. Developed for an optimized deck layout and CAPEX/OPEX minimization. Most concepts result in larger vessel dimensions and more complex handling operations when the vessel is offshore, but the VERticale setup provides a balanced solution for installing future wind farms.