Volvox Terranova Repairs Completed

An European engineering company, Bakker Sliedrecht, has completed the electrical restoration of trailing suction hopper dredger Volvox Terranova.

The dredger Volvox Terranova was heavily damaged by an old sea mine while working on a project in Indonesia.

Bakker Sliedrecht reported that during the repairs, the vessels’s two submersible motors in the suction tube were replaced by the more powerful one. Also, two transformers were placed to work with the new submersible motor.

In addition, a new electrical drive system was installed that powers both the jet pump and the dredging pump.

As the blast wave of the mine was very powerful, damage was caused throughout the ship. Therefore, Bakker Sliedrecht inspected the entire electrical system from power generation to power distribution. A whole new main switchboard was assembled in the workshop of Bakker Sliedrecht and installed on board the ship. The cable ducts and cabling were also renewed.

Bakker Sliedrecht also reported that the PLC Scada system was renewed to offer the dredging operators a clear visualization that allows them to monitor the dredging process efficiently. The existing BIMAC vessel management system was also upgraded with new software. Furthermore, I/O points were updated by removing old points and adding new ones.

Frank Verwaard, Project Manager at Van Oord: “Van Oord decided to take the lead in the project from start to finish instead of engaging a third party, for example a shipyard or newbuilding yard, to renovate the TSHD Volvox Terranova.”

According to Frank Verwaard, the project team of Bakker Sliedrecht that was led by Hijmen Both and Bert Alblas on location, completed the repairs of TSHD Volvox Terranova in December 2016 well ahead of a her first assignment in India early 2017.