The large brass bell in the giant hall of the Vlissingen head office of Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding (DSNS) was last sounded on 23 December 2012. During the past decade it has become traditional that, whenever a construction contract for a ship is signed, the shipyard's workforce gathers to see the bell struck. It was on 7 January 2004 that the chimes first sounded, on the occasion of the signing of a contract for the Ship Integrated Geometrical Modularity Approach (SIGMA) corvette/frigate design. At that time, it was for an initial two SIGMA 9113 ships for the Indonesian Navy. The SIGMA design and construction concept enshrined the Damen Group's philosophy of " standardisation', with vessel concepts being underpinned by the widespread adoption of commercial standards and the use of standard hull modules. The result was a 'productised' design that offered the flexibility to meet customer needs, but was at the same time underpinned by low-risk engineering.
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