Dutch owner Acta Marine is using dragonwood bamboo to build a new deck on one of its utility vessels.
The aim is to see how the sustainable material performs compared with traditional tropical hardwood.
The work was done on the 39-loa Coastal Enterprise (built 1987), the offshore wind vessel owner said.
Acta technical manager Cor Visser said the technical department had chosen a part of the deck where the most impact is expected.
“We do a variety of offshore work for which the anchor-handling winch is the most important,” he said. “The area below the winch, in the centre line of the vessel, is getting the most impact from steel wires, shackles and other heavy rigging once operating.”
The new material is being put through its paces in the rigours of the offshore environment.
“We hope that the addition of bamboo to our ships will pave the way to a more sustainable future,” Visser said.
Thomas Lambooij, from supplier Dragonwood in Utrecht, explained that dragonwood has been used in other industries for a long time.
“The basis for this material is of course bamboo. Bamboo is known as ‘magical grass’ and grows in large areas of the world. It grows so fast that it is sometimes called a weed.”
Strong and robust
After harvesting the stems, the bamboo is split into strips and processed into loose fibres.
These are pressed together in a large machine, together with an environmentally friendly resin, to form a strong, robust material.
“The pressed bamboo is then processed into crane mats or, as is the case here, to the specific requirements of our clients,” the supplier added.
Lambooij said a bamboo forest absorbs five times more CO2 and produces 35% more oxygen than an equivalent area of forest with trees.
