Royal Van der Leun inks pontoon deal with shipyard CRIST S.A.

Royal Van der Leun has signed an important contract with shipyard CRIST S.A., located in Gdynia, Poland. The deal includes the delivery of the complete control room, a VFD container & Transformer container for the Multi Purpose Pontoon of the Femern Link Contractors project.

The pontoon with submersible dumping tool will be used to lay a gravel bed on the seabed under the tunnel element connecting Germany (Fehmarn) and Denmark (Lolland).

The unit will have a hull length of 130.2m and an overall length of up to 149m including conveyor belts. The overall width will be 48m.

According to Royal Van der Leun, the pontoon will accommodate up to 19 people who will work in two shifts. The unit will have two gravel bunkers, each carrying up to 7.000 tons of gravel.

The remote-controlled gravel placement tool, the so-called SDT, will be lowered from underneath the MPP up to 46m below the waterline where it will install gravel berms. These will serve as foundation for a submerged tunnel.

“The combination of a high level of automation and state of the art positioning technologies will ensure the accurate placement of the gravel foundations,” said the company.