The Damen Group (Damen Holding B.V.) is a Dutch defence, shipbuilding, and engineering conglomerate company based in Gorinchem, South Holland, the Netherlands. Though it is a major international group doing business in 120 countries, it remains a private family-owned company.
Stop supplying ships to Russia, halt new contracts. Ice-class tankers transporting Russian liquefied natural gas from the Yamal LNG plant continue to be serviced in European ports. A ban on working with them would greatly complicate the logistics of transporting LNG from the Arctic, but for now the EU is only increasing its purchases. Technical maintenance of 14 out of 15 specialized Arc7 tankers delivering LNG from Yamal to Europe was carried out by two shipyards – Damen in Brest, France, and Fayard A/S in Denmark.
Damen halts delivery of newbuilds to Russia. The Netherlands’ largest shipbuilder is suing the Dutch government for losses inflicted on its business by sanctions against Russia, a rare instance of a European company taking its grievances to court over the corporate fallout from the invasion of Ukraine. “Before the sanctions, Damen had signed contracts with Russian ship buyers, and after the invasion of Ukraine the Dutch government decided that such contracts may not be honored by the Dutch business community.” Through intermediaries in Turkey and Hong Kong, Russia reportedly bypassed the sanctions to source parts for Damen’s crab-fishing vessels. Import data suggests that at least some of these components originated from Damen or were sourced through its supply chain. The Dutch Attorney General's Office will prosecute the Dutch shipbuilding company Damen Shipyards, among the charges is violation of sanctions against Russia.