The construction of the new Rodman 80 for Fred. Olsen Express continues its course and yesterday was successfully launched at the Rodman Polyships facilities, thus concluding the final phase of installations and assembly of the main equipment.
The event brought together members of the Shipping Company’s management, such as the General Manager of Fred. Olsen S.A., Andrés Marín; the Fleet Manager, Juan Ignacio Liaño; the Head of the Technical Department, Iván Fernández, the Chief of Services on board Fred Olsen’s vessels, Erik Lehmann or the Chief of Security, Mario Torres .
Final phase of quality control
The Shipyard was represented by its President, Manuel Rodríguez; the Vice President and CEO, Oscar Rodríguez; the Manager of International Development, Silvia Rodríguez; the Technical Manager, Raimundo Tapia, the Commercial Manager, Gonzalo Torres, the Production Manager, Ricardo Rodríguez and the Marketing Manager, María Herrero.
The event was also attended by senior officials from the Directorate General of the Merchant Navy and the Maritime Captaincies of Vigo and La Coruña, specifically the Deputy Director General of the Directorate General of the Merchant Marine, José Cebrián; the Maritime Captain of Vigo, Manuel Ángel García and the Maritime Captain of A Coruña, Gonzalo Guillén. During this event, the new mini ferry, named Buganvilla Express, was sponsored by Beatriz Blasco Herrera. The vessel will remain in the water to undergo the final phase of quality control, inspections and sea trials, prior to the final delivery to the Owner, scheduled for the month of June.
Final testing phase
This event is the culmination of the construction process that has been developed by Rodman"
At the end of last May, the design and construction project for the new Catamaran for Fred. Olsen Express. was started. Since then, the technical team of the Rodman Shipyard, together with the technical team of the Shipping Company, have carried out a thorough work of definition and development of the vessel. The aim is to ensure her functionality, comfort and sustainability, as well as the best performance of this new Catamaran, which will be part of the company’s fleet in 2024, to provide service between the islands of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote.
In the words of the General Manager of Fred. Olsen S.A., Andrés Marín, “This event is the culmination of the construction process that has been developed by Rodman, in collaboration with the technical team of our Shipping Company. Once the final testing phase is completed, the Buganvilla Express will begin to provide service between the islands of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote in June.”
Exceeding initial expectations
From Rodman, its president, Manuel Rodríguez, thanked the Shipping Company for its trust and expressed his satisfaction, because the launching ceremony was carried out with total success, “The construction process is meeting the initial expectations set by Fred. Olsen Express and also with those of our quality standards as a shipyard. After the launching, we will begin the final phase of final adjustments, quality control and sea trials, where we hope that the vessel will meet the performance we estimate, exceeding the initial expectations.”
New Rodman 80 Catamaran: The new Rodman 80, 26 m in length and 9.80 m in beam, will have a capacity for 250 passengers and will be fitted with two engines of 1,470 HP each. In addition, she will have an interior and exterior deck, highly demanded by the tourist public, as well as a bar-cafeteria service and on-board entertainment.
Wind energy platforms
Over the last few years, Rodman has successfully designed, built and delivered different types of catamarans, not only for passengers, but also for other uses, such as hydrographic and research catamarans or offshore catamarans to support offshore wind energy platforms.
The experience acquired in this kind of constructions, places Rodman as one of the reference shipyards at European level in this kind of vessels.