BNR 171 - Stad Schoonhoven

Shipyard Gebr. Kooiman BV in Zwijndrecht delivered the ‘Stad Schoonhoven’ ferry in 2006 for the ferry service between Schoonhoven and Gelkenes.

The Veerdienst Schoonhoven BV ferry service transports almost one million cars and around 800,000 cyclists annually. To guarantee continuity into the future, with safe equipment, it was decided at the time to build this new ferry. The modern ferry has a 31-metre long car deck. This is one metre longer than the current Schoonhoven 3. The lanes are considerably wider and the engine power is much greater, at 4 x 300 HP.

The vessel was drawn and developed by Groenendijk & Soetermeer in collaboration with Boot Expertises and the ferry service itself. Yacht designer Cor D. Rover was responsible for the design. He designed the modern appearance of the new ferry.

The design and the construction achieved a compromise: the specific local situation demanded a limited length for mooring, a limited draught for sailing above the ferry slip, and a limited width for sailing with two ferries. Another issue was the limited budget. There are no subsidy options for ferries like that of Schoonhoven, because ferries are not part of the public transport system.

Because all shares of Veerdienst Schoonhoven BV are in the hands of the Municipality of Schoonhoven, a European tendering procedure had to be followed. Four prestigious shipyards in the Netherlands submitted tenders, including Shipyard Gebr. Kooiman BV in Zwijndrecht, which ended up making the most economically advantageous tender.

The Stad Schoonhoven ferry was built in accordance with the regulations and under the supervision of the Dutch Inspectie Verkeer en Waterstaat Shipping Division.