On Thursday 23 May, the naming ceremony for the LESSE, a custom-built 2,300m³ trailing suction hopper dredger (TSHD), took place at Royal IHC’s partner yard MTG Dolphin BV in Varna, Bulgaria, the company said in its release. The vessel is the newest addition to the fleet of Baggerbedrijf de Boer – Dutch Dredging and is based on the success of IHC-built TSHDs ALBATROS and MAHURY (delivered in 2013 and 2015 respectively).
The vessel is designed to maintain sea and inland waterways, as well as perform land reclamation. It is equipped with the latest electronic system to improve positioning, sounding and execution of dredging work. With a dredging depth of 30m below the waterline and a hopper capacity of 2,300m³, the LESSE is extremely efficient and can be deployed worldwide.
The TSHD was successfully launched in Varna on 27 November 2018 and special attention was paid during the design phase to reduce operational costs by ensuring maximum uptime. Such design considerations included the application of more wear-resistant materials and use of maintenance-free equipment on board.