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China Is IHCs Valentine
Dutch dredger builder IHC Holland has extended its successful relationship with Chinese clients into a third century with the launch of Wan Qing Sha , a 10,028m 3capacity trailing suction hopper dredger for the China Harbour Engineering Company s Guangzhou Dredging Company . The Valentines Day naming ceremony at IHCs Kinderdijk yard was officiated by Mrs Qin Zhongfen, wife of CHEC Group President Mr Liu Huaiyuan.
Following the completion of sea trials in the Netherlands, WanQing Sha will sail to China for delivery during the second half of June. The dredger will be used for capital dredging in the Pearl River Delta, where a rapid expansion of cargo handling operations is taking place.
The twin screw, environment friendly trailer has two aft-mounted suction pipes of 1,000mm internal diameter which will enable dredging to a depth of 28m at 45º angle. By first filling the hopper with water, a maximum dredging depth of 39m at 55º angle can be achieved with the help of an extended suction pipe. Both suction pipes are equipped with IHC’s new excavating draghead. The aft mounted 6,000kW dredge pumps are supplied with a gas removal system and are directly driven by one of the propulsion diesel engines through a two speed reduction gearbox.
The 128m LOA Wan Qing Sha will have a maximum loading capacity for 14,684 tonnes of dredged material at a draught of 8.75m. A total installed power of 13,287kW delivers a loaded speed of 15.2 knots.The hopper load can be dumped offshore via two rows of conical bottom doors, pumped to shore via a floating pipeline, or rainbowed with a bow-mounted jet nozzle.
One of the yards that now forms IHC Holland first supplied a bucket ladder dredger to the local government in Tianjin in 1895. Guangzhou Dredger Company purchased 12 vessels from IHC Holland over the final quarter of the 20th Century, the largest of which is the 1993 built 5,250m 3capacity trailer Guangzhgou Hao . That WanQing Sha nearly doubles this capacity is indicative of escalating dredging requirements to accommodate China’s export boom.
MJ Information No: 19112
