Project F.A.S.T. officially launched with handing over of European subsidy money

Project F.A.S.T. officially launched with handing over of European subsidy money
On 17 November, F.A.S.T. - Fieldlab Autonomous Sailing Technology was officially launched. The boat that will play the leading role in the unique autonomous sailing project was presented. Over the next two years, Vlissingen harbour will be used as a testing ground for a remotely controlled vessel. The project is a collaboration between various parties, including Damen Naval, Province of Zeeland, Municipality of Vlissingen, HZ University of Applied Sciences, TU Delft, and local companies, such as Kloosterboer, Vlaeynatie and Zeeland Boten.
Because of coronavirus restriction measures, the event was organised outside, under the large Schelde crane on the Jan Weugkade, behind the Machinefabriek in Vlissingen. During his welcome speech, Damen Naval’s Director of Naval Sales Support Richard Keulen said that the location was actually very appropriate. “We are standing here surrounded by a lot of history, with the old Schelde crane, the former naval ship and museum Mercuur and the old Machinefabriek,” he said. “But today is all about this little ship that is being presented. FAST is an appropriate name, because developments are moving very fast and it is nice to see how our region can get involved in projects like this.”Richard praised the cooperation between the Province, the Municipality of Vlissingen, the HZ and TU Delft and the business community. “What we have here is actually a golden ecosystem between government, knowledge institutions, and research and development. There is a lot of capacity in Vlissingen. North Sea Port is actually a maritime ‘brain-port’ and we are proud that we can use Damen’s three local disciplines for this project. We have the yachts of Damen Yachting, the high-quality repairs of Damen Shiprepair, and Damen Naval with the naval construction, which is innovation in itself. We are proud to contribute to this project and to the future of autonomous sailing.”