The trailing suction hopper dredger Scheldt River was officially named yesterday at the DEME head office in Zwijndrecht, Belgium. The dredger was named by Mrs Veerle Hegge, the wife of Mr Bart De Wever, Mayor of Antwerp.
The 8,400 m³ Scheldt River is the second dredger in the DEME fleet equipped with dual fuel engines. The highly innovative vessel can operate in LNG mode, reducing carbon dioxide emissions, almost eliminating sulphur, NOx and particle emissions. LNG is intrinsically clean and there is no need for exhaust gas cleaning systems.
Scheldt River was built at Royal IHC’s shipyard in the Netherlands. The new vessel is part of DEME’s multi-year fleet investment program, focused on further increasing efficiency, both in terms of productivity and environmental performance.
This vessel boosts great dredging performance in shallow waters and meets and exceeds all current emission regulations, even in the emission control areas such as the North Sea.
Innovative vessel design
Scheldt River is equipped with two speed propulsion gear boxes and combinatory mode propeller thrust control, which will result in at least 10% fuel savings during dredging operations. The vessel also has a Dynamic Position & Dynamic Tracking (DP/ DT) system, further enhancing manoeuvrability and position keeping.
The dredge pump of Scheldt River is driven by a hybrid drive-diesel direct plus electric motor.
Efficient power management solutions are made possible, and the dredge pump is achieving an excellent performance both in trailing and in shore discharge mode.
Scheldt River also features a one man bridge operation, increasing efficiency and ease of handling. The vessel is designed and built to allow Extended Dry Docking Service (7,5 years), meaning less time lost in dry-dock.