Displaying an extensive collection of historical maritime memorabilia, Damen Shipyards Galati has opened an exhibition in the Lower Danube University in the Romanian city of Galati. The exhibition is part of the yard’s 125-year anniversary celebrations that began with the annual Shipbuilder’s Day festivities on Aug. 15, 2018.

The exhibition opened Sept. 1 with a ceremony attended by guests including Damen Shipyards Group Board President Jason Bronscheer and the mayor of the city of Galati, Ionut Pucheanu. Open until Dec. 30, 2018, the exhibition contains various items such as photographs, postcards, maps, books and other pieces that reflect the rich maritime heritage at the yard since its founding in 1893.

Some items, such a photo of the Romanian Navy minelayer NMS Amiral Murgescu, demonstrate shared aspects of Romanian-Dutch history. This vessel, for example, was built at the yard in 1941 to a Dutch design. Other items include paintings painted in the 1950s by the then-painter of the yard, Armin Muller, and a heavy-duty diving suit dating back to 1913.

Shipbuilding operations on the site that is now known as Damen Shipyards Galati began in 1893, when metalworking specialist and business entrepreneur Gheorghe Fernic founded a metal foundry and later in 1897 a shipyard. The shipyard quickly became internationally recognized for the complexity of the ships it was building, and so began a long and continuing tradition of shipbuilding in Romania. —Damen Shipyards Group