Kooiman Hoebee shipyard in Dordrecht and Alewijnse recently completed an extensive refit of the trailing suction hopper dredger Swalinge for Den Herder Seaworks.
The refit of the Swalinge involved practically cutting the vessel in half to put in the new 37.1-meter section in the middle of the ship. By doing this, the crews managed to expand the vessel’s hopper capacity from 1800m³ to 3000m³.
In addition to the lengthening, the Swalinge has been substantially modified in other areas to further maximize its versatility. For example, the vessel has been equipped with two spud poles, a second bow thruster, a new propeller nozzle around the thruster, another bulb stern and a new, unique, hydraulically adjustable separator for the dredging system, an application that few dredgers today have.
Alewijnse main activities on this project included extending the cables in the ship’s hopper corridors; upgrading the main switchboard to accommodate the integration of the new bow thruster and hydraulic pumps; the wiring and connecting of the complete dredging installation including the hydraulics system, jet water system, suction pipe gantries and drain system, etc.
With the delivery of TSHD Swalinge, Alewijnse and Den Herder Seaworks confirm their many years of successful cooperation in the field of electrical installations and automation. Previous projects that Alewijnse has successfully completed for Den Herder Seaworks include the electrical fitout of two sisterships; the newbuild TSHD Scelveringhe and TSHD Spauwer.