Van Oord’s new trailing suction hopper dredger, the Vox Amalia, has been successfully launched at the LaNaval shipyard in Bilbao, Spain.
This vessel is the first of two new midsize hopper dredgers being built for the Dutch company.
According to Gerard Alkema, Project Manager Plant Design & Construction at Van Oord , the two vessels are designed for capital dredging, coastal works and dredging of trenches for pipe and cable routes for offshore installations such as wind farms.
“ Van Oord will deploy the new hopper dredger to create new ports or enlarge existing ports for better access for container shipment, ” said Mr Alkema.
The dredgers have a hopper volume of approximately 18,000 cubic meters and are equipped with two suction pipes with submerged e-driven dredge pumps, two shore discharge dredge pumps, and six bottom doors. Each vessel is 158 meters by 36 meters and can accommodate 38 persons.
Its twin, the Vox Alexia, will be completed early next year.