Damen Shipyards Group has announced that it delivered two electrically-powered cutter suction dredgers (CSD) for the Canadian oil sands industry in 2015.
The contract was finalised to mark the cooperation of Damen and Aecon, a publicly traded infrastructure development and construction company.
The CSDs have begun operations in Northern Alberta, Canada. Both at 40.64 metres long, the vessels perform dredging duties in oil sands tailings ponds.
Jan van Hogerwou, Manager at Damen in North America, said: “We are extremely proud to be active in Canada.
“This important dredger contract not only represents a successful construction partnership with Aecon, but also a continuance of our long-term strategy in this part of the world.”
Read: Good Year for Damen Dredgers
The vessels are called Igor Mazursky and Fitzgerald and can dredge to a maximum depth of 10 metres.
Its primary duty is to pump water back to the process plant and to maintain the capacity of the tailings ponds within their design specifications.
Dredge production is flexible as the dredgers can be either controlled from the vessel itself or via remote control from the shore.
The dredging muscle comes from Damen’s BP6560MD dredge pump that features a variable-frequency drive with 2,200 kilowatts (KW) of electrical motor.
The hydraulic installation is powered by a 600KW electric motor which feeds the 250KW cutter head and the winches.
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