Compagnie Française de Croisières taps Damen Yards for Renaissance renovationCompagnie Française de Croisières taps Damen Yards for Renaissance renovation

They will reimagine the 629 cabins for the French market and add a Compagnie Française touch to its first ship. 

The 55,575gt Maasdam was previously acquired by Greek ferry operator Seajets from Holland America Line before being sold to CFC for $30m.

French yards for a French ship

Renaissance, which left Algio in Greece on September 28, is on its way to Malta for a technical call and will subsequently head to Brest with arrival planned around October 7. Sea trials will be made during this repositioning sailing.

Clément Mousset and Cedric Rivoire-Perochat, co-founders of Compagnie Française de Croisières, are ‘happy that this renovation takes place in France. With a demonstrated reputation for the quality, skill and efficiency of its teams, Damen Brest has a long and well-known experience in cruise ships’ renovation and maintenance. 

‘As the first French company under the RIF (French International Register) pavilion, selecting these yards also confirms our will to settle permanently on the French market by building strong partnerships with industries and suppliers located in France.’

For Roger van der Laan, global product manager at Damen Shiprepair & Conversion, ‘We want to thank CFC and Cruise Management International Miami for this partnership and their trust in our performance capacity. Their ship will be converted according to the highest standards in order to offer their passengers an all-French experience.’ 

Damen Brest France, well-established repair yard

The yards have three dry docks, the largest being one of Europe’s biggest. This can accommodate almost any size ship in the world. Damen caters for standard repair projects, complex conversions, modernisation of machine spaces, including the installation of scrubbers and Tier III updating. All procedures comply with European and international regulations concerning security, quality and environmental protection.

Work to be carried out 

The work on Renaissance will include sandblasting, processing and painting the hull and superstructure, safety and environmental upgrading, scrubbers conversion from an ‘open’ to a ‘closed’ system, upgrades to meet current regulations for wastewater and ballast systems, metallurgical works (steel and aluminium), and renovation of public spaces, cabins and suites.