Damen delivers CSD 250 to Dredging Africa for inland dredging project

Damen Shipyards Group has delivered a Cutter Suction Dredger (CSD) 250 to South Africa-based Dredging Africa. The CSD will be used to mine sand from the Ash River, just east of Bethlehem in the Free State Province, Damen said in a press release.

The project is a clear demonstration of the suitability of Damen’s stationary dredger range for dredging inland areas; the modularity of the equipment meaning it can be transported easily to even the most remote locations.

The client selected Damen for a number of reasons. Arend van de Wetering, Director of Dredging Africa, said, “We wanted to utilise the best equipment available, to be sure of the best production, reliability and lowest downtime. Ease of transport and commissioning were key for us as were sound after-market support and Damen’s offering met all of these requirements.”

“Most dredging projects in South Africa are small to medium sized, generally involving dredging to depths of no more than 5 metres. The CSD can dredge to 6 metres and is compact and easily transportable by road. Just what the doctor ordered!”

The CSD will dredge fluvial sand deposits from a 64ha location in the Ash River into the washing and screening plant of Bethlehem Quality Sand. The sand will be used in the construction industry.

The dredger has the capacity to extract and pump some 1,000 m3 of mixture per hour. The floating pipeline, with an internal diameter of 250 mm, will start at just 100 metres in length. It connects to a 50 m land line which is directly connected to the sand classification plant. The plant can process 150 tonnes per hour; the excess material is dumped on a reserve stockpile. As the project develops, the mining dredger will gradually move away from the classification plant. This is no problem as more floating pipeline can be added; no booster station is required.

Mr Van de Wetering summed up, saying, “Dredging Africa wanted to go to the next level in dredging in Southern Africa and Damen assisted us in realising this development. This is the first state-of-the-art-dredger of its kind in South Africa to tackle the numerous dredging tasks at hand in this beautiful country.”

Gorinchem, Netherlands based Damen Shipyards Group (established in 1927) is a globally operating company with 35 owned shipyards and numerous partner yards. Damen employs over 6,000 people, has built over 5,000 vessels in more than 100 countries and delivers approximately 180 vessels annually to customers worldwide. Damen specializes in building tugs, workboats, patrol vessels, high speed craft, cargo vessels, dredgers, offshore support vessels, oil-spill response vessels, frigates and mega yachts. Besides, Damen offers efficient customer support, customer financing and complete lifecycle service. In addition to ship design and shipbuilding, Damen Shiprepair & Conversion has a worldwide network of 17 repair and conversion yards with dry docks ranging up to 420 x 80 metres. Conversion projects range from adapting vessels to today’s requirements and regulations to the complete conversion of large offshore structures. DSC completes around 1,350 repair and maintenance jobs annually.