DEME Orders World’s Largest Cutter Suction Dredger
Image: DEME Group
Image: Royal IHC
Royal IHC said it has been awarded a contract for the design, construction and delivery of a 164m-long, 44,180kW self-propelled cutter suction dredger (CSD) for DEME in Belgium. The vessel, Spartacus, will be built in the Netherlands for summer 2019 delivery.
Spartacus will be the world’s first CSD powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), following on the order for the first LNG-powered trailing suction hopper dredgers (TSHDs) Minerva and Scheldt River, and the LNG-ready Bonny River, that are currently under construction at IHC’s shipyards.
“We can state that this CSD [Spartacus] is the largest and most complex that IHC has ever built,” said IHC's CEO Dave Vander Heyde. “The combination of power, size and innovations makes it a true challenge to build.”
The concept and basic design for this mega cutter was produced via collaboration between IHC, DEME and Vuyk Engineering Rotterdam, a 100 percent subsidiary of IHC.
The dredger’s four main diesel engines can run on LNG, marine diesel oil (MDO) and heavy fuel oil (HFO), and the two auxiliary engines have dual-fuel technology.
According to DEME’s Head of Construction and Conversion, Jan Gabriel, “This cutter suction dredger is going to be an important benchmark for the industry and a huge step toward limiting the environmental impact of our vessels.”
The environmentally-friendly CSD will also have a waste heat recovery system that converts heat from the exhaust gasses to electrical energy. Spartacus will have a Green Passport and Clean Design notation.
DEME said that Spartacus’ 44,180kW total installed capacity will qualify the CSD as the most powerful ever built. This power will enable the vessel to cut harder soils at speeds not possible previously, reducing reliance on the use of dynamite and blasting.
The vessel will have a heavy-duty cutter ladder and can reach a dredging depth of 45m. The dredge control is arranged for a one-man operation.
Vander Heyde added, “IHC’s strategy, which focuses on developing and producing high added value equipment, and integrated vessels is starting to pay off. Being able to manage all the gigantic forces of this CSD with our high tech equipment and systems perfectly supports this.”
