This electric winch operated dredger, currently working near the capital, was designed in close collaboration with the client in order to satisfy its specific demands in terms of dredging work to be carried out in inland quarries in order to supply building aggregates to Romania’s flourishing building sector.

The choice of an electric dredger, as opposed to a standard diesel powered dredger, came about partly due to the availability of reasonably priced electric power in Romania and partly due to greater environmental awareness, obliging the client to ensure the planned dredging work had the lowest possible impact on the surrounding environment.

This extended to painting the vessel green so it would blend in with local vegetation. The Italdraghe PD300E electric dredger, with reduced noise pollution and limited exhaust and oil/fuel discharge, fitted the bill perfectly.

This custom built dredger also features an onboard transformer to allow for tension variations from an average of 20,000 volts down to 400 volts, as well as a dredging pump powered by a 520 kW electric engine that is controlled by means of an inverter, permitting the revs to be adjusted according to specific working conditions at any given time.

Because the dredger had to travel overland from Italy to Romania, it was designed in sections to make for easy road transportation. A particularly interesting feature of the dredger is its modular design that allows the effective dredging depth to be increased notably. With the sole onboard pump the dredging depth can be extended up to 30m, while with a submerged pump on the ladder, the dredging depth can be increased to 80m.

The 31.5m LOA dredger has a 5m beam and will produce 1,400 cu/m/hr with an average solid concentration of 20%, pumping through a 300mm internal diameter pipe.