Dutch do cargo ship to dredger conversion

Unfortunately, it did not have a vessel available in the short term, so turned to Conoship and Barkmeijer Shipyard in The Netherlands to convert Sirocco, a general cargo vessel built by Barkmeijer, into a trailing suction hopper dredger.

The design of the conversion of the former 3,200 dwt vessel was executed by Conoship International in close cooperation with Barkmeijer Shipyards, Royal Niestern Sander and DredgeCon. Conoship’s activities included re-design of the general arrangement of the vessel to a dredger, hullform modifications and watertight integrity. To obtain more deadweight and to improve stability, two sponsons were fitted to the full midship length of the hull, enlarging the breadth from 12.5m to 16m.

The cargo hold was redesigned into a hopper with bottom doors. Discharging can also take place through a rainbow system on the bow or to a floating pipeline through a bow coupling. Dry sand can also be discharged by an excavator that moves over the hopper area and transports the sand or gravel onto conveyor belts along the hopper to the shore discharge port. In the forward part of the original cargo hold a new engine and pump room was designed, containing the dredge pump, jet pumps and two 400kW azimuthing thrusters. In the aft part of the original cargo hold another engine room was created with a second pair of 400kW azimuthing thrusters. The addition of four thrusters will give the vessel good manoeuvrability during operations in narrow harbour spaces. The wheelhouse has been elevated, enhancing the view during dredging operations.