SENER developing five hopper dredgers for the Mexican Navy

SENER recently won a contract from the Mexican Navy (Secretaría de Marina, SEMAR) for the conceptual, basic and detailed engineering of five twin hopper dredging vessels.

The new dredgers, to be operated by the Mexican Navy, will be mainly used for maintenance dredging activities along Mexican coasts and rivers.

The 86 meter long vessel will have the capacity to dredge mud, sand, and fine gravel from the depths of up to 25 meters. The newbuilds will have a total storage capacity of dredged material of 2,800 m3.

For unloading, the ship will have four gates located at the bottom and a bow discharge system, both by dispersion and through a hose connection to a fixed pipe system.

According to SENER, two azimuth-type propellers will be installed for propulsion purposes, powered by electric motors that give the ship a wide maneuvering capacity increased with the installation of a transversal bow propeller. The dredging pumps will also be powered by electric motors.

The company also added that a power management system (PMS) will be installed onboard for automatic regulation of the start/stop of the generator sets and automatic load sharing.

With a cruising speed of 10 knots, the new dredgers will be capable of accommodating a crew of 26 members.