On Saturday, 16 November 2019, DEME and Royal IHC successfully launched the 7,950m³ trailing suction hopper dredger (TSHD) ‘Meuse River’. The ceremony took place at IHC’s shipyard in Krimpen aan den IJssel, the Netherlands.
‘Meuse River’ has the same innovative design as the award winning IHC-built TSHD ‘Scheldt River’, that joined the DEME fleet in 2017 and which has operated non-stop on waterways and access channels in Europe ever since.
‘Meuse River’ features several energy smart technologies, developed by DEME and IHC, such as a hybrid dredge pump drive system to reduce the effect of load variations. For automation of the dredging process, IHC developed the intelligent IHC ECO automation package, which results in higher dredging performance. Additionally, better fuel efficiency in sailing and dredging conditions is achieved with two-speed propulsion and combinator mode.
The vessel will strengthen the DEME fleet in 2020.
Luc Vandenbulcke, CEO of DEME: “With our multi-year investment programme, we aim to operate the most technologically advanced fleet in the industry. We want to make sure our vessels are futureproof by continually pursuing enhanced productivity and efficiency goals. Building on the success of our pioneering trailing suction hopper dredger ‘Scheldt River’ we can provide our customers with an identical, versatile and highly efficient vessel for a wide range of dredging activities.”
Dave Vander Heyde, CEO of Royal IHC: “We are proud that after we have successfully delivered ‘Scheldt River’ to DEME, we have reached this milestone for ‘Meuse River’ – another IHC-built TSHD prefitted to be capable of operating on LNG. The cooperation with DEME has proven to be successful in the past, and we are pleased to continue our partnership with them by adding more value and technical capabilities to their advanced fleet.”
Source: DEME