Van Oord has ordered the construction of two additional water injection dredgers (WIDs) from Kooiman Marine Group.
This comes after the successful operation of sister vessels Maas and Mersey in 2021.
The new WIDs will have the same specifications, supplemented by innovative optimisations.
According to Van Oord, the first of the two dredgers will be commissioned in the first half of 2024.
Keeping up with the growing volume of maritime transport requires both port and waterway maintenance. Water injection dredging removes sediment ‘the natural way’.
“It is an efficient and environmentally friendly way of maintaining the depth of navigation channels, ports and rivers,” said Van Oord.
“Thanks to their manoeuvrability and very limited draught, these vessels are perfectly suited for maintenance dredging in shallow harbours.”
Energy management
Energy management in this series of WIDs was given special attention during the design phase.
The vessels will be equipped with a hybrid energy management system and will be able to store energy in batteries that can be used later for propulsion and other purposes.
Also, diesel-electric engines will reduce carbon emissions.
Finally, the new water injection dredgers will comply with IMO TIER III legislation for reducing harmful NOx emissions and take account of EU STAGE V legislation.