The Werkendam, Van Oord’s new crane vessel, has been successfully launched in the Waalhaven in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. This is the first LNG-powered vessel in the Van Oord fleet.
The vessels will contribute to the further modernisation of Van Oord’s fleet and therefore mark the start of a new generation of dredging vessels.
Jaap de Jong, Staff Director of the Ship Management Department at Van Oord, explains: ‘Energy efficiency is one of the top items on our sustainability agenda. To reduce our carbon footprint, we are researching the use of alternative fuels, such as LNG and biofuel. With this investment, we will be gaining experience of LNG-powered vessels and the related benefits.’
The delivery of the vessel and its christening are scheduled for April 2018. It will generally be deployed to Netherlands-based projects executed by subsidiary Paans Van Oord. Some of this subsidiary’s other crane vessels are currently deployed at the Houtrib dike, where a Van Oord consortium is reinforcing both sides of a 25-kilometre-long section of the dike with sand and rock. The Houtrib dike, which links Enkhuizen and Lelystad, protects large parts of the Netherlands from flooding.
Source: Van Oord