Dutch/Spanish teamwork begets French dredger
The hopper dredger Jean Ango has been handed over to its French owner, Dragages-Ports, the major French publicly owned company which operates a large number of dredgers maintaining all major sea ports.
The 1,500m3 dredger was designed and built in Spain by Astilleros de Murueta, using Damen dredging equipment. The new vessel will maintain the French river Seine between Rouen and Le Havre.
The Jean Ango has specifically been designed for round the clock maintenance dredging. The dredger is fitted out with a 600mm trailing pipe which will work to a dredging depth of 26m. Two identical Damen dredge pumps of type BP6055MD either fill the hopper or pump ashore using the bow coupling or the customized side coupling. Conical bottom valves are fitted to dump the cargo. The dredging gear is complete with a degassing system, as experience shows a high percentage of in-situ gas, trapped in the layers of silt.
The Jean Ango is the result of a close cooperation between Damen Dredging Equipment and the Spanish yard Astilleros de Murueta S.A. Astilleros de Murueta has done all design for the vessel, including basic engineering and the naval architecture. The vessel was built at the Gernika yard. It is 82.1m long and has a moulded breath of 15.4m. Designed for unrestricted navigation and dredging over 8 miles from shore, the vessel has a deadweight of 3,392 tonnes and a loaded speed of 11.5 knots.
The Jean Ango, named after a famous French explorer, is fitted out for a crew of 14 mariners. The hopper dredger was delivered to the owner recently and, after extensive testing on the river Seine, has started its important task of keeping France’s major ports at the correct depth.
