Sure Wind takes delivery of second Damen Twin Axe FCS 2610

British company Sure Wind Marine Ltd. has taken delivery of its second Damen Twin Axe Fast Crew Supplier – the Sure Swift - in a little over a month after the first joined the company's fleet.

Established in 2009, Sure Wind is a specialist in the German offshore wind market and now has 10 dedicated wind farm service and crew transfer vessels, the latest two being the first newbuild Damen vessels.


Sure Wind also owns the first FCS 2610 ever built – the pioneering ‘Shamal' (renamed Sure Shamal) - which it acquired in July 2013.

The Damen vessels have certainly proven themselves and are hugely popular with customers, says Lucy Kibler, Sure Wind Vessel Operations Coordinator. "Enquiries are unbelievable, Damen has really set the standard for a crew transfer vessel. The Twin Axe is in a different league in terms of seakeeping and crew comfort."

New standard in crew transfer

"We aim to be the preferred crew transport vessel company and Damen helps give us the market presence. Customers want these vessels." The Sure Shamal will have been working at the Barrow Offshore Wind Farm from October 2013 to end-March this year, before heading off for her next job in April.

Sure Star and Sure Swift will be based in Eemshaven before being deployed in the German offshore wind market but again, the Sure Star has pretty much had non-stop work since joining Sure Wind's fleet.

"One of the advantages of the vessels is that they are excellent sea keeping vessels even in the winter months, and still maintain their passenger comfort ," she adds. "Sure Wind does not rule out the addition of more Damen vessels in the future. The company has exciting expansion plans, which would involve an extensive fleet expansion. We can see more Damen vessels on the horizon."

Damen Shipyards Group

Damen Shipyards Group operates 40 ship- and repair yards, employing 8.000 people worldwide. Damen has delivered more than 5.000 vessels in more than 100 countries and delivers approx. 180 vessels annually to customers worldwide. Based on its unique, standardised ship-design concept Damen is able to guarantee consistent quality.

Damen's focus on standardisation, modular construction and keeping vessels in stock leads to short delivery times, low ‘total cost of ownership', high resale value and reliable performance. Furthermore, Damen vessels are based on thorough R&D and proven technology.

Damen offers a wide range of products, including: tugs, workboats, naval and patrol vessels, high speed craft, cargo vessels, dredgers, vessels for the offshore industry, ferries, pontoons and super yachts.

For nearly all vessel types Damen offers a broad range of Services, such as maintenance, spare parts delivery, training and transfer of (shipbuilding) know-how. To complete, Damen offers a variety of marine components, especially nozzles, rudders, anchors, anchor chains and steel works.

Damen Shiprepair & Conversion

In addition to ship design and shipbuilding, Damen Shiprepair & Conversion offers a network of 16 repair & conversion yards worldwide, with dry docks ranging up to 420x80 metres. Conversion projects range from adapting vessels to today's requirements and regulations to the complete conversion of large offshore structures. DS&C handles 1,500 repair and maintenance jobs annually.

Featured Product

Raptor Maps - The integrated operating system for end-to-end solar management

Raptor Maps - The integrated operating system for end-to-end solar management

Operate autonomous drones and other robotics technology on your solar farms with Raptor Maps' robotics operations platform. Our end-to-end solution allows you to build and schedule data collection missions, to analyze collected data through our analytics engine, and to address identified issues through our remediation intelligence suite. From construction monitoring to substation inspections to SCADA-alert generation missions, Raptor Robotics gives your team unparalleled insights into the health and status of your project. Improve the safety, efficiency, and scale of your operations with Raptor Robotics.