In the last two months of 2016, IHC saw a substantial increase in the sale of its vessels, equipment and engineering packages. Almost half of the total order intake over 2016 was secured in this period, the company said in its press release.
One of the highlights of the year end includes the sale of a trailing suction hopper dredger (TSHD) Easydredge® 2700 from stock. Supported by the Argentinean bank BICE, the vessel was sold to Dragados Argentinos DASA S.A. (DASA) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. DASA is a new company, established by three leading dredging contractors in the country. The DASA I has a dredging depth of 25m and will be added to the company’s fleet, which mainly consists of cutter suction dredgers. The vessel is currently on its way from the shipyard in Bulgaria to its new home port of Buenos Aires.
IHC has also signed a contract with CCCC Mechanical & Electrical Engineering Co. Ltd and CHEC Dredging Co. Ltd – a fully owned subsidiary of CCCC Shanghai Dredging.
The contract includes the delivery of basic engineering and dredging components for two 6,500m3 TSHDs. Basic engineering and the sophisticated dredging automation systems for the vessels will be supplied by IHC in The Netherlands. The highly complex dredging equipment will be a combination of Chinese and Dutch-built parts.
IHC is also going to build a multi-purpose 5,450m3 TSHD, to be named DC ORISANT, for a joint venture between Den Herder (Reimerswaal Dredging) and Group de Cloedt. The vessel can perform a wide range of projects due to the integrated design and dredging equipment. The dredge installation has been designed to dredge marine aggregates (sand and gravel) for the construction industry. The DC ORISANT is also extremely suitable for performing regular dredging projects, such as maintenance dredging and beach nourishment.
The DP2 installation enables the vessel to perform support activities for the construction of offshore wind farms. It is the first complete diesel electric aggregate dredger in the market, which enables it to sail at the most economic speed in all circumstances.
IHC has also been awarded a contract to build a 3,557kW custom-built stationary CSD and two powerful 1,825kW floating booster stations. The equipment and floating pipelines will be delivered to Arab Potash Company (APC) in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan during 2017. To enable the customer to use the full potential of the equipment, an extensive training programme will be provided by IHC. The equipment will be deployed for the salt ‘mushroom’ project to support the production process of minerals, mainly potash, in the Dead Sea.
In a successful partnership with Johs. Gram-Hanssen (JGH Group) and Aquarius Systems, IHC has been awarded a contract to build two fully electric IHC Beaver®50 CSDs and two IHC Delta Multi Craft (DMC) 1240 work boats. The project is managed by JGH Marine, the marine division of the JGH Group. It holds the contract with Millennium Challenge Account Malawi (MCA-Malawi), which aims to reduce poverty through local economic growth. The total equipment package, including an Aquarius Systems weed harvesting spread, will be deployed for the Environment and Natural Resource Management (ENRM) Project. This addresses the growing problems of aquatic weed infestation and excessive sedimentation in the Shire River, causing costly disruptions to downstream power plant operations.