Dredgers of the World: Fourth Edition

All the volumes are comprehensive and extremely useful reference works for anyone in need of the services of such a vessel.

As the world’s population grows and generally migrates towards coastal areas the clamour for new land rises accordingly and dredging is the only global industry which can address the issue. Likewise, the global growth of port facilities on the back of expanding world trade or the need for improved coastal defences in the face of global warming and again, it is dredging which gets the call.

So the voluminous Fourth Edition of Dredgers of the World is going to be a very useful tool indeed for planners, developers and port managers worldwide. The book is set out in alphabetical order with sections covering all the main dredging vessel types: Backhoe, Dipper and Grab Dredgers, Barge Unloading Dredgers, Bucket Ladder Dredgers, Cutter Suction and Bucket Wheel Dredgers, Special equipment such as Water Injection Dredgers, Suction Dredgers and Trailing Suction Hopper Dredgers.

Access to the data for any particular vessel, provided the reader knows the name and type, is straightforward. For readers knowing only the vessel’s name or its owner/operator, other indices are provided.

Dredgers of the World issupported by the International Association of Dredging Companies (IADC) and a list of its members and their locations follows a preface by recently departed IADC Secretary General Peter Hamburger. In further cooperation with OPL, the IADC has developed a database for dredging literature, Dredgeline. com, which can be accessed on the internet free of charge.

The volume is right up to date with newbuilds, listing 2003 additions to the fleet of Belgian contractor Jan De Nul such as Filippo Brunelleschi, Francesco di Giorgio and Francis Beaufort . Also up to date is the Size Wars data as international dredging giants slug it out to see who can have the biggest trailing suction hopper dredger. Measured in terms of pure capacity, Royal Boskalis Westminster’s recently lengthened WD Fairway at 35,508m 3has just pipped Jan De Nul’s 34,798m 3 Vasco da Gama although it can be argued that with the capability to dredge to 134m, the latter is the more versatile vessel.

Dredgers of the World: Fourth Edition
Published by Oilfield Publications Ltd.
ISBN 1 871041 11 2
Paperback, 660 pages
Price £155