Concordia Damen to provide heavy cargo pontoon

Concordia Damen won a contract by Koninklijke Van der Wees Transporten for the construction and delivery of an innovative RoRo pontoon, to be named Lastdrager 29. In addition, the Werkendam-based shipyard will build two coupling pontoons for Van der Wees.

The Lastdrager 29 was developed to meet the unique transport challenges faced by Van der Wees, which has designed the RoRo Pontoon together with Shipbuilding Solutions. Equipped with a (removable) drive-in function, the pontoon enables the seamless loading and unloading of high and heavy cargo, supporting a load capacity of up to 600 tons. Its optimized dimensions ensure efficient navigation through Europe's inland waterways, even in challenging conditions.

The new pontoon incorporates several features, including spud poles and mooring winches for enhanced positioning and stability, ballast systems to ensure optimal trim and weight distribution, wave protection and beach landing capabilities, and two coupling pontoons (12.19 x 2.94 x 3.06 m) for increased buoyancy for complex transport operations.

Together with the ‘Nicolaas van der Wees’, Royal Van der Wees Group’s shallow draft (1m), 2x 500 HP Pusher Tug, the Lastdrager 29 will offer efficient solutions for transporting heavy cargo, even under challenging conditions, such as low water levels, narrow