Davits, winches and LSA in general are the cream of the crop of our core business
As known at international level, Navim Group is still today the worldwide leader in the design and manufacturing of Telescopic Davits, a masterpiece in engineering consenting great agility in operations.
Telescopic davits consist of two arms welded at the ceiling of the Ship’s upper deck in such a way to allow the promenade deck to be completely free.
Navim Telescopic Davit solution is particularly useful when this deck is used as passengers walking area, but also during the embarkation in emergency case. The davit arms may be extended outboard as necessary to permit boats translation from stowed to embarkation position lowering in any trim and list condition stated by Solas. No heavy electrical system is required because energy is provided by hydraulic power packs and accumulators.
But how were Telescopic Davits born chez Navim?
The early 1990s were characterized by the return in grand style of the great “white ships”. It had been 25 years since Fincantieri in 1966 delivered the passenger ship Eugenio C. to the Costa Group. On 29th June 1990 Fincantieri Monfalcone delivered to British P&O the unit “Crown Princess”, the first in a long series of cruise ships of the new era, followed only a year later by the sistership “Regal Princess”.
And Navim Group was ready to jump in and managed to be proudly present with a large number of equipment among which davits for the handling of the lifeboats; from that moment on, cruise ships would become a major area of our production.
Only a few years later for three units of Holland America Line, the “Statendaam”, the “Ryndam” and the “Maasdam”, built in Fincantieri Monfalcone, the group produced, for the first time ever, the telescopic davits for life and tenderboats, a cutting-edge new system conceived designed and manufactured in house.
From the beginning, the installation of davits for lifeboats on board the cruise ships of the new generation highlighted the need to achieve higher safety standards.By virtue of its constant contact with shipping companies and shipyards, Navim Group interpreted and responded intelligently to the demand for innovative solutions; in full compliance with safety regulations, we were able to reduce the dimensions of the davits’ accommodations spaces to their physical essence, conjugated with the simplicity and immediacy necessary for an effective and secure use.
For these vessels Navim Group was given a very specific and challenging task in order to guarantee a bigger space for the cabins, since the operating area available for the regular davits did not allow the proper launching of the lifeboats in high-side and low-side conditions as prescribed by the Regulations. To work out a prompt solution, Navim designers proposed the revolutionary technological innovation of the telescopic davits that allowed the launching of the lifeboats in a smaller space while keeping the same level of performance and safety.
The Telescopic system with reserve of energy presents also great benefits under the aesthetic point of view since the deck walk is completely free. Each set of davits is served by an independent system, composed of cylinders operated by a series of oil accumulators kept constantly under pressure and by a control console.
After 30 years since their first use, Navim Group is still the only world producer of telescopic davits for Cruise Ships. There are today more than 100 Cruise Ships featuring the telescopic davit systems.
But why is a Davit called like that? And what is the history behind davits and lifeboats?
The word davit is derived from Middle English and Old French “daviot”, which is a diminutive of David; thus it means “little David”, maybe because those small cranes can handle a much bigger lifeboat and a in a visionary interpretation it makes us think about David winning over Goliath. Historically lifeboats have evolved from very simple boats launched from shore to double-decker mini-boats that carry hundreds of people. But their function as a rescue mean has remained unchanged in the years.
The first tragedies occurred in the Sea – such as that of the Ship which capsized in 1789 along the coast of England and its crew who died within sight of shore – highlighted the urge to design a rescue solution and inspired the project of the Original, a 30-foot double-ended boat with ten oars made our of Cork in her hull to prevent capsizing. The Original, despite her rudimental essence, saved countless lives and inspired the onboard lifeboats that were created and put into use about a century later. We all know now that on the Titanic there were only half as many lifeboats as necessary but they were swift and could carry 65 passengers each. They functioned with a pulley system in a way very similar to the davits system used today, but unfortunately, the 70-foot drop off the side of the ship terrified passengers and crew so much that lifeboats were lowered sparsely loaded. Modern-day lifeboats look gigantic and invincible compared with their antecedents. Lifeboats on large cruise ships can hold up to 400 passengers, and some even have two levels.
