Italdraghe Marina Master 8000 order

This will be the second Marina Master MK II dredger to be supplied to a UK marina owner requiring versatile, easily-manoeuvrable, precision dredging equipment.

The 14m long self-propelled dredger, with a PD180 dredging pump, will be built in the Italdraghe shipyard on Italy’s Adriatic Coast.

A key feature of the new vessel will be its horizontally-hinged dredging arm that will be manufactured in two sections with a central hydraulic-controlled vertical hinge, allowing the dredger to work under floating marina pontoons and finger piers without having to remove them.

Thanks to the new dredger’s ability to manoeuvre into and clean individual berths and then reverse out, there is no need for the marina owner to empty out the entire marina prior to starting dredging operations. Only one or two moored boats need to be temporarily moved out at a time and these can be moored back into place as the dredger moves on to the next berth.

This also means that dredging can be done throughout the year, even in the busier summer months.

Compared to its predecessor, the new vessel will have a number of special additional features including enhanced alarm systems and hydraulically-operate sponsons.

Italdraghe’s first Marina Master 8000 dredger for the UK market was moored on the floating pontoon at Seawork 2013. It was ordered by Yacht Havens in the UK to work initially at Fambridge harbour in Essex and then to move onto to several other harbours managed by the marina operator.

By Anne-Marie Causer