The vessel, which will be built at Damen Shipyards Galati (Romania), is designed to extract sand and gravel from the sea bed up to depths of 55 metres, including in the challenging conditions experienced in the North Sea.
The new dredger is of the MAD 3500 type, its design has the optimal balance between payload and efficiency within limited dimensions.
Source: Damen Shipyards Group, 8 January 2018
The vessel's overall length has been restricted to 103.5 metres, in view of a specific limited lock passage.
Its deadweight is just under 7,000 tonnes and a speed at loaded draught of approximately 12 knots.
In comparison to CEMEX's current vessel, the Sand Heron, which the new ship will replace, this translates into an additional 20% of aggregates that can be delivered per trip.
The vessel will boast Lloyd's Register ECO-notation, courtesy of its green credentials as well as a CAC-3 notation offering a high standard of crew comfort.
The optimal uptime the client required comes courtesy of a number of features.
Included is exceptional seakeeping behaviour, offering crew comfort in rough seas and the capability to work in heavy weather conditions.
The bow is enclosed, protecting deck equipment and reducing green water ingress into the cargo hold.
A user-friendly approach to maintenance also helps to maximise uptime.
All dredge pipes are situated above main deck level for safety, as well as easy inspection and crane reach.
Besides this, the modular construction of the Damen designed and built dredge systems makes for the easy replacement of wear parts on the piping and screening installation.