Damen, Hydromaster Develop New Ferry Thruster Maritime Activity Reports, Inc. Image courtesy Damen In 2020, Damen signed a contract with Blue Amigo for the delivery of nine passenger vessels to operate between Rotterdam and the Drecht cities in the Netherlands in a service known as the Waterbus. Damen identified that six of the vessels – hybrid carbon fiber water buses that will operate fast, inter-city routes – would require a unique thruster solution, a fully azimuthing, 360-degree thruster to make docking easy and propulsion fast. “It’s actually the kind of thruster you would expect to see on a pleasure craft,” says Damen design and proposal engineer Ferries Jan van Ooijen. “On a passenger vessel, though, we needed something more maneuverable and robust.”