As Italy is severely lacking in exploitable alluvial sites able to supply such precious building aggregates, it was essential that the dredger be specifically designed for that particular flood plain quarry in order to optimise extraction costs and to ensure that the greatest possible amount of material could be excavated from the entire area of the dredging site, leaving, literally, no single stone unturned.

An essential feature of the dredger design is its spud carriage system. As this operates on a rotating hinge concept, it allows the carriage itself to be quite small while at the same time providing the dredger with notable forward advance stroke.

Other specially designed features incorporated on the basis of customer specifications include a larger than standard hull at 37.5m LOA and 5.16m beam and pontoons allowing more operating space, a raised control cabin for extended all-round vision, plus a two drum winch with hydraulic jack controlled clutch and brake for greater manoeuvrability. Some 550 hp at the cutterhead enables dredging to depths of 15m through a 300mm diameter suction pipe.

This is the second dredger that Italdraghe SpA has specially designed and manufactured for the Gruppo Nettuno SpA.