Congo River launch continues tradition

The contract between DEME N.V. and IHC Dredgers B.V. for the design, construction, and delivery of the ship was signed in December 2008. The keel laying took place on 15 December 2009. The Congo River will be commissioned in the middle of this year and will be named during a formal ceremony in Zeebrugge on 8 July 2011.

The name Congo River continues the series of names chosen for the company’s key trailers such as the world’s first ‘jumbo’ trailer Pearl River, as well as Nile River and Amazone. DEME suggests an interesting parallel between its latest newbuild and the actual river in that both display a characteristic ability to very quickly displace enormous volumes of sand.

The Congo River is an innovative and multi-functional ship, very manoeuvrable because of its large width (38 m) and short length (168 m) and capable of deployment for many different purposes. Even fully loaded, the vessel will have a limited draught of only 12m, making it ideal for operation in confined spaces such as ports and harbours. It is also suitable for long distance sand transport for land reclamation works and beach nourishment. The Congo River can, with its deep suction installation, dredge to depths of over 100m.

Aside from the Congo River and the recently launched Victor Horta, DEME currently has another six large dredgers and marine vessels under construction. These include the 11,000 m3 trailing suction hopper dredger Breughel, the DP2 jack-up platform Neptune, the 16,000 kW self-propelled cutter suction dredgers Al Jarraf and Amazone, the DP2 fall pipe vessel Flintstone, and the heavy duty 28,000 kW self-propelled rock cutter suction dredger Ambiorix.

The launch of the Congo River coincides with DEME company Dredging International signing a contract with the Congolese Régie des Voies Maritimes (RVM), in cooperation with the shipping company Maersk, for the execution of deepening works on the Congo river between Malela and Boma, in the downstream reach some 60 km from the port of Matadi.

The works call for the deepening of this section of the river from the present level of 18 feet to approximately 26 feet. The works are being executed with the trailing suction hopper dredger Orwell, which was mobilized from Antwerp. The works have recently started and will continue for approximately two months. The objective of the works is to provide Maersk container vessels with sufficient depth to be able to reach the port of Matadi safely.

Within the framework of a twinning agreement between Antwerp and Matadi, the Port of Antwerp surveyed and mapped the critical spots of the river. During the execution of the works, a number of port experts are supervising the dredging works.

As part of this contract, Dredging International looks after the training of hydrographers and dredging crews of RVM. The Congo river is known to have a very complex hydrography which requires very specific ‘directed dredging’. The project manager of Dredging International and the captain of the trailer Orwell are former RVM employees.