Ship repair and boat building
FEATURE
Africa’s largest trailing-suction dredger under construction
C
onstruction of Transnet National Ports Authority’s (TNPA) Dredging Service’s third new dredger is underway following the keel laying ceremony performed jointly by TNPA and IHC at their shipbuilding yard in Rotterdam during January.
During the TNPA/IHC ceremony a Mandela coin was symbolically placed underneath the keel of the dredger. When construction of the dredger is complete the coin will sail to Durban with the dredger and be returned to TNPA.
The not yet named 5,500 cubic metre trailing-suction hopper dredger will be the largest in Africa and the third to be built as part of a more than R2 billion programme to renew the dredging fleet. The contract for its construction was awarded to IHC in 2014 and it will replace the 2800m3 Ingwenya. The launching ceremony is planned for May and an earlier than expected delivery is set for the end January 2016. The dredger is the largest in Africa and is self-sufficient in that it comes with its own workboat. The workboat, among its many tasks, will be used as hydrographic survey boat. This trailing suction dredger will be fitted with the latest technology and the estimated 1,400 tons of steel used in the dredger is being imported from South Africa.
TNPA and IHC at the keel laying ceremony
for the new 5,500 cubic metre trailing suction dredger being built in Rotterdam
MARITIME REVIEW Africa: February 2015
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