Alain Bernard News

On November 10, Royal IHC successfully launched the Spartacus, a 44,180kW self-propelled cutter suction dredger (CSD) designed and built for DEME. The ceremony took place at IHC's shipyard in Krimpen aan den IJssel, The Netherlands. It was performed by Mrs Fabienne Ackermans, the spouse of Mr Luc Bertrand (chairman of the Board of Directors of Ackermans & van Haaren, owner of DEME).Spartacus is reportedly the world’s largest CSD and the first to be powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG). The four main engines can run on LNG, marine diesel oil (MDO) and heavy fuel oil (HFO).

Belgian dredging, environmental and marine engineering group Dredging, Environmental and Marine Engineering NV (DEME)'s Board of Directors announced that with effect from January 1, 2019 Luc Vandenbulcke will succeed Alain Bernard as the company’s CEO.Bernard started working for the group in 1980 and has been CEO of DEME since 2006. Over the past 12 years he transformed the group from a purely dredging organization into a diversified marine engineering group with operations worldwide.Under his leadership sales figures increased from €1.1 billion to €2.4 billion (2017), while DEME’s fleet became one of the most innovative and diverse in the industry.Luc Vandenbulcke (KU Leuven, civil engineer) has worked at DEME Group for the past 21 years.

The Netherlands based Royal IHC said it has secured a contract from Belgium-based DEME for the design and build of four new vessels.The order consists of a copy of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) powered 8,400m3 trailing suction hopper dredger (TSHD) Scheldt River delivered in 2017, as well as a 2,300m3 TSHD and two 3,500m3 split barges.The compact design of the 2,300m3 TSHD is characterized by a small draught and can be deployed for projects in shallow water worldwide, the builder said.The two split barges are based on the IHC standard split trail 3,500 design.

The launch ceremony of DEME’s 7,950m3 dual fuel trailing suction hopper dredger (TSHD) –SCHELDT RIVER – took place on 14 January at Royal IHC's shipyard in Krimpen aan den IJssel, The Netherlands. “After the successful launch of the world’s first LNG-powered hopper MINERVA on 3 December, I am delighted to see SCHELDT RIVER – the second IHC-built TSHD capable of operating on LNG – nearing completion,” says IHC's Executive Director Shipbuilding, Arjan Klijnsoon. As a result of IHC’s continuous research effort on fuel saving and analysis of operational profiles, it has developed a two-speed propulsion drive. In contrast to conventional single speed propulsion, the IHC-patented two-speed gearbox ensures fuel savings when sailing at lower speeds.

The launch ceremony of DEME’s 3,500m3 LNG-powered trailing suction hopper dredger (TSHD) MINERVA took place on 3 December at Royal IHC's shipyard in Kinderdijk, The Netherlands. The official name giving and christening ceremony will take place in the spring of 2017 in Zeebrugge, Belgium. "The launch of this vessel is an important milestone for the dredging industry,” says IHC's Executive Director Shipbuilding, Arjan Klijnsoon. “IHC had already started to investigate the integration of LNG into dredging vessels in 2012, enabling us to understand the challenges of this green solution. This gave us a solid basis to work from when DEME started its tender process, and helped us to materialise DEME’s preliminary design for two LNG-powered TSHDs.

On November 10, DEME and Royal IHC have been awarded a DPC Innovation Award for the world’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered Trailing Suction Hopper Dredgers (TSHD). The DPC Innovation Awards consisted of 13 categories looking at the most innovative and forward-thinking projects that the dredging and port construction industry has to offer. DEME and Royal IHC won the award in the “Innovation in Dredger Design” category. Since a few years, DEME has embarked on a comprehensive fleet expansion programme and a number of vessels are currently being built to significantly increase efficiency, both in terms of productivity and environmental performance.

China COSCO Shipping, which uses bulk carriers and container vessels to transport goods, has seen its cargo business decline amid China's slowdown and has decided to get into the offshore wind power generation business, reports  Nikkei. Recently, the Belgian dredging, environmental and marine engineering group DEME DEME and China COSCO have formed a joint venture to develop offshore wind energy in China. As the largest shipping company in the world, China COSCO Shipping wishes to enter this new market segment and has found a partner in DEME's subsidiary GeoSea, with its extensive experience in developing, building and maintaining offshore wind farms.

The Belgian dredging, environmental and marine engineering group DEME and China COSCO Shipping – the largest shipping company in the world – have formed a joint venture to develop offshore wind energy in China. The cooperation is in line with the Chinese climate vision and its aim to develop renewable energy, both of which were recently incorporated in the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020) for social and economic development. The Chinese government wishes to increase the installed capacity of offshore wind energy significantly by 2020. As the largest shipping company in the world, China COSCO Shipping said it seeks to enter this new market segment and has found a partner in DEME's subsidiary GeoSea, with its experience in developing, building and maintaining offshore wind farms.

Panama Canal Authority (ACP) Administrator/CEO Alberto Alemán Zubieta, joined by DEME Group CEO Alain Bernard, recently unveiled a model of the D'Artagnan dredger during a ceremony at the Panama Canal's Miraflores Visitors' Center.  The D'Artagnan is the most powerful self-propelled heavy duty cutter suction dredger in the world, with its special design for cutting rocks and sand dredging. Owned by Belgian company Dredging International (part of the DEME group), the D'Artagnan will be used in the expansion of the Panama Canal.