New Van Oord cutter suction dredger
Van Oord’s newest addition to its fleet, the self-propelled cutter suction dredger ‘Artemis’, is departing for western France on its first assignment with the Grand Port Maritime de la Rochelle this week.
Artemis will be deepening the harbour basin and dredging a trench in the access channel to the harbour. During the project, approximately 500,000 cubic metres of very hard rock and clay will be dredged.
The contract for the vessel’s design, construction and delivery was signed with IHC Merwede on 20 December 2010. Pieter van Oord, CEO, Van Oord, said: “Our investment in two self-propelled cutter suction dredgers and two large backhoe dredgers has significantly bolstered our position on the dredging market. This is in line with our strategy to have a very strong position in all segments of the dredging market.”
One exceptional feature of the vessel is its hydraulically buffered spud carriage, which will permit it to continue to work even in poor weather conditions. Air springs that have been installed under the deck house are also special. They will minimise noise and vibration.
Artemis is a sister vessel to Athena, which was delivered at the end of 2011. Athena is currently being successfully deployed on the Ichthys LNG project in Darwin, Australia.
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