Damen Holds Environmental Dredging Seminar in China

Damen Shipyards Group has concluded an informative seminar on the subject of Environmental Dredging for key players in the Chinese dredging industry.

The two-day seminar presented several new developments from the field of environmental dredging.

More than 50 representatives from over 20 Chinese dredging companies attended the seminar, which took place at the beginning of November.

The event visited two of Damen’s Chinese yards:  Damen Yichang Shipyard on the first day and Damen Shipyards Changde on the second.

“First we welcomed our guests to Yichang, in the Hubei province. After lunch, the participants were given a tour of the Yichang yard. Here, we paid special attention to a modern, highly automated Trailer Suction Hopper Dredger 2000 that is currently under construction at Damen Yichang Shipyard. This 2000m³ capacity vessel is being built as part of Damen’s speculative shipbuilding program in order to ensure delivery of vessels with short delivery times,” said Damen Regional Sales Director Asia Pacific, Michiel Hendrikx.

Day two of the itinerary took in Damen Shipyards Changde in the neighboring province of Hunan. As well as showing the guests a Cutter Suction Dredger 500 that is currently under construction for stock, the yard also gave a demonstration of a DOP 200 Dredge Pump.

While the inherent versatility of Damen’s submersible DOP Pumps means that they can be found in a wide variety of working situations, the possibility that they can be mobilized to dredge reservoirs directly upstream from hydroelectric dams is a relatively new development in the world of dredging.

The role of environmental dredging – and its relevance in drinking water supplies – is gaining an increasing amount of attention in China; in both public and political circles. This is because that, even though China is home to almost 20% of the world’s population, the country only holds 7% of the world’s fresh water supply.

Furthermore, according to a recent report from NGO International Water Association, at least one third of the water in Chinese rivers and lakes is unfit for human consumption due to high levels of pollution.