A keel laying ceremony of a Marine Aggregate Dredger (MAD) 3500 vessel, to be built for Hanson Aggregates Marine, took place today at Damen Shipyards Galati in Romania.
The ceremony of this vessel, currently in progress at Damen Galati under YN 566352, was performed at Hull Division IA in the presence of Mr. Simon Willis, CEO, Hanson UK, who had the honor of welding the coins.
Due for delivery in March 2021, the dredge equipment and screening installation will be constructed by Damen Dredging Equipment (DDE) in Nijkerk, the Netherlands.
The MAD 3500 design achieves the optimal balance between payload and efficiency within limited dimensions and is ideally suited to operating within the dimensions of Shoreham lock on the English south coast.
With the specific lock passage limiting the vessel’s overall length to approximately 103.5 meters, a deadweight of just under 6,800 tonnes and a speed at loaded draught of approximately 12.5 knots are within the vessel’s capability.
The vessel’s length and width offer the optimal amount of cargo space to achieve maximum transportation efficiency on each passage through the lock.
This dredger will be used by Hanson’s marine business to extract aggregates in the British Channel and North Sea, aided by a number of special features specific to its innovative design, including a 1,400 kW permanent magnet electric motor, which powers the dredge pump for collecting aggregates at -55m.