Ports and Dredging - ihcdredgers.com use of a successful trailing suction hopper dredger, followed...

MainContents

¸NewsFlash¸TechnologyInnovator¸QuickbuildingVOXDubai¸RIOLagos–Nigeria¸DiamondMining¸TSHDABUL¸BuildinginCooperation

PortsandDredgingispublishedbyIHCMerwedewiththeaimofkeepingthedredgingindustryinformedaboutnewdevelopmentsindredgingtechnology,vesselsandotheritemsofdredgingequipmentdelivered,andtheexperiencesofusersallovertheworld.IHCMerwededevelopsandappliesnewtechniques.Thesearemanifestedinarangeofadvancedproductsandservices:custom-builtandstandardiseddredgers,dredginginstallationsandcomponents,instrumentsandautomaticcontrolsystems,engineeringandconsultancy,researchanddevelopment,renovation,operatortrainingandafter-salesservice.IHCMerwedeprovidesoptimumsolutionsfortheproblemsfacedbythedredgingandalluvialminingindustries.

IHCMerwedeP.O. Box 2043360 AE Sliedrecht The Netherlands

T +31 184 41 15 55 F +31 184 41 18 84

www.ihcmerwede.com

Autumn2008|e170

PortsandDredging

Ports and DredgingCoordination:R.C.M. van Krimpen - Baudesson,PR IHC Merwede

Production and printing:Die Haghe/AM&S, The Hague, The Netherlands

Editorial board: M.O. Boor, L.A. Klootwijk, A. Korevaar, R.C.M. van Krimpen - Baudesson, S.G. Mensonides, H. van Muijen, E. Put, J.L. van Overhagen

The articles were published with the cooperation of:G.N. Goshart (IHC Merwede)W.I. Buitenhuis (Van Oord)

cover: IHC Merwede, The technology innovator

Ports and Dredging is published by IHC Merwede.

The articles appearing in this journal may be reproduced in whole or in part on the condition that the source is quoted.

Editorial and correspondence address:IHC Merwede, P.O. Box 204,3360 AE Sliedrecht, The Netherlands.

Copyright. IHC MerwedeISDN: 0166-5766

For more information about any article please contact IHC Merwede.

Ports and Dredging is printed on FSC paper.

Further in this edition 4 News flash from the group 10 Quick building VOX DubaI 42 Recently delivered

6° 26’ 50.28” N3° 26’ 21.48” E

Life cycle support in actionOpening of Regional IHC Organisation (RIO) in Lagos

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Editorial

This issue of Ports and Dredging has been scheduled to appear on the occasion of the SMM fair at the Hamburg Messe and Conference Centre on 23-26 September 2008. It provides an overview of the activities, innovations, developments and versatility of the IHC Merwede Group.

The boom in the dredging, offshore and shipbuilding markets and IHC Merwede’s involvement in them mean that there are a lot of issues to be addressed. The editing desk selected a number of them and we invite readers to start with the News Flash and a leading article about IHC Merwede as a technology innovator.

Although the term ‘innovation’ is not littered about the articles, descriptions of recent and ongoing projects provide an in-depth picture of our cutting-edge activities. The News Flash itself and an article on diamond mining give a glimpse of developments in market segments that may be of particular interest for regular readers. We also take a look at a new process to accelerate the construction of very large dredgers, and highlight the ongoing developments in IHC Merwede’s efforts in the area of Life Cycle Support.

We conclude with a story about the first operational use of a successful trailing suction hopper dredger, followed by a report on the construction of dredgers in collaboration with China that focuses on cutter suction dredgers.

The editing desk wishes you an enjoyable read.

Kind regards,

Renée van Krimpen-Baudesson

51° 19’ 52.85” N3° 12’ 24.61” E

IHC Merwede - The technology innovator: Dredging & Mining

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Page 51° 48’ 20.67” N38 4° 45’ 07.77” E

On order

Ports and DredgingContents

23° 07’ 35.75” N113° 20’ 31.02” E

New building in cooperationIHC Merwede reinforces Chinese port development

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24° 53’ 36.16” N67° 01’ 41.02” E

TSHD abuLModern dredger for ambitious Port Authorities

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28° 44’ 36.24” S24° 45’ 45.36” E

New opportunitiesIHC Merwede technology supports offshore diamond mining

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2 IHC Merwede | Ports and Dredging | Autumn 2008 3 IHC Merwede | Ports and Dredging | Autumn 2008

13 June 2008 NewIHCMerwedebranchopensinDordrecht OnFriday,13June2008,IHCParts&Servicesopenedanewbranchin

Dordrecht(theNetherlands).AsaresultoftherapidgrowthofIHCParts & Services, the production halls in Kinderdijk were over-full and expansion was necessary. The new location in Dordrecht will concentrate exclusively on the production and delivery of stop valves, a part for dredging vessels that regulates the flow of dredged material on board. The valves vary from 1,5 to 6 metres high and they can have a mass as great as 10,000 kilograms and more.

The new branch consists of two linked halls measuring 290m² and 400m² and a large outside area where the office units are also located. Thirteen people are at work at this branch presently.

Asthedredgingandshipbuildingmarketremainsflourishing, IHC Merwede constantly develops new initiatives – and continues in building new ships. This News Flash informs the reader on recent ones.

4 July 2008

IHC Krimpen Shipyard B.V. achieves Quality Management Registration to NEN-EN-ISO 9001: 2000 certificate IHC Krimpen Shipyard B.V achieved the

NEN-EN-ISO 9001:2000 Certificate for the design and construction of complex units in the market sectors offshore, passengerships,dredgingvessels,navyvesselsandspecialvesselsusinginhouse expertise. Considering the market in which IHC Krimpen Shipyard operatesandtheproductonwhichthecompany is focused, a strong concentration on the customer and market expectations (an important principle in case of the ISO 9001) has been an essential part of those business processes for a long time.

18 July 2008 SEVEN ATLANTIC launching at Merwede Shipyard It is a fully Dynamic Positioned Diving

Support / Offshore Construction Vessel, suitable for worldwide operations. The vessel has been designed for saturation and air diving support work. The integrated saturated diving system isaccommodated amidships of the vessel and is suitable for a total capacity of 24 divers: 8 diving teams, each consisting of 3 divers. The dive system is designed for operations in water depths of up to 350 metres.

NewsFlashfromtheGroup 1 NewIHCMerwedebranchinDordrecht

2 Festive passing of the ISO certificate. From left to right: Mr. M. Oosterlee and Mr. A. Klijnsoon (IHC Merwede), Mr. M. Veenstra and Mr. G. Sijnstra (Lloyd’s Register).

3 The SEVEN ATLANTIC for the first time in her natural environment over her full length

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� IHC Merwede | Ports and Dredging | Autumn 2008 � IHC Merwede | Ports and Dredging | Autumn 2008

IHC Merwede develops and builds equipment for the dredging and offshore markets. The equipment is used in projects that safeguard a sustainable future for the world, a future that depends on security, economic stability, supplies of raw materials and a level playing field. We supply technology that enables our clients to operate within these constraints. Success increasingly depends on the technology’s ability to meet extreme demands in terms of efficiency, operating costs, areas of application, sustainability and durability. Our clients use our equipment increasingly in more extreme conditions and to meet more extreme requirements. So the best available technology is required, making a focus on innovative developments indispensable. IHC Merwede is a technology innovator. Our goal is to lead the development of new technology which results in innovative products and equipment, and unique production vessels. In this article, we spotlight our efforts for the Dredging and Mining market.

A number of important business drivers can be identified in the dredging and mining market. The global population growth and the trend to migrate towards coastal areas have generated strong demand for land reclamation. Together with expanding global trade, this also leads to more marine transport, for which port facilities and access are needed. Rising demand for raw materials and energy is leading to a focus on offshore operations, and a booming tourism sector is generating a genuine wave of leisure-related infrastructure projects. Last but not least, environmental developments such as global warming and rising sea levels are resulting in long-term demand for coastal defences and sustainable technology. These drivers have already resulted in an enormous change in technology requirements over recent

years, which we expect to continue in the coming decade. Scaling-up to cope with larger capacities and deeper operating depths, more extreme sea states, weather and soil conditions, economic considerations like efficiency, lower costs and life cycle services, as well as sustainable use and environmentally-friendly operations, are important objectives in our constant drive to improve our technology.

Our clients dredge and mine deeper, with larger capacities, and higher accuracy and selectivity. To keep operations efficient, we have to provide more cost-efficient systems and components, all working together correctly. Scaling-up means not only larger size, but also new design approaches. Dynamic processes influence structural strengths, leading to other ways of engineering, integrated designs and the use of simulation, finite element analysis and CFD (computational fluid dynamics). Automation is no longer a control system on its own; it should be seen as the integrating system bringing together control, analysis and processes to allow highly efficient operation methods. Changing conditions also require different material properties and possibilities, especially where more severe conditions and scale-up effects meet. Finally, the way we construct and produce the components, systems and equipment are altering, and this is another factor leading to advanced and innovative production processes.

There has always been a strong emphasis on research & development at IHC Merwede and its predecessor companies. Since its formation in the early 1940s, IHC Merwede has been dedicated to developing innovative technology to service the dredging and mining markets. A good example of this dedication is the existence of MTI Holland, IHC Merwede’s knowledge

IHC Merwede - The technology innovator: Dredging & Mining

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1 Dedication to product development as shown in the innovative Wild Dragon drag head

KnowledgeDevelopment

ConceptDevelopment

ProductDevelopment

ProductEngineering

ProcessDevelopment

Business UnitStrategyProjects(3–5 Years)

Business UnitOperationProjects(1-3 Years)

AppliedResearch

Concept Development

Prototype

Testing

Detail Engineering

Product Improvement

Process Improvement

ScientificResearch Group Strategy

Projects(5–10 Years)

Positioning R&D

Research

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centre since that time. As one of the world’s leading research and consultancy institutes for dredging processes, dredging and mining, dredging methods and equipment, MTI is at the heart of innovation and development at IHC Merwede. Moving away from more practically-oriented research activities, MTI’s activities have changed in scope over the years towards more computer-based modelling and fundamental research.

In addition to the R&D work of MTI, the individual IHC Merwede business units are also fully engaged in extensive product development, as well as being responsible for product improvement and streamlining operational processes. These projects often have a time horizon of 1–3 years before marketable products become available. For the dredging and wet mining markets, a number of IHC

Merwede Business Units are cooperating to combine components and systems into integrated equipment. We often have to combine efforts in inter-unit product development programmes. Here also, there is frequently a time horizon of 3–5 years before developments turn into marketable products (figure 1). To keep up with the changing constraints in contemporary dredging and wet mining described above, more and more fundamental knowledge will be needed to take the next steps in the application of innovative technology. Here, we are looking at time horizons of 5–10 years, with R&D programmes spread over several years and involving a number of different scientific disciplines.

IHC Merwede is the global market leader for the design and construction of dredging and wet mining equipment, and so we have adopted this challenge

for the future development of innovative dredging and wet mining technology as one of our main strategic objectives. A Research & Development Platform for Dredging and Shipbuilding was therefore established in 2007. Most of the IHC Merwede units involved in dredging and wet mining are represented on this platform and they have drawn up a joint, long-term research programme for dredging and shipbuilding.

An important Platform programme is Smart Dredger, which targets the further development of artificial dredging intelligence. This research programme is funded by the Dutch government, and it combines modern automation and control methods, and dynamic simulation modelling. Analysing real-time information aboard IHC Merwede equipment and using it in process models to update the equipment’s automation and control systems, allows direct optimisation of actual dredging. This means that an artificial intelligence system is emerging that can advise or take control of the operation of the vessel to enhance efficiency (figure 2).

As part of more fundamental directed research on sustainability, IHC Merwede also participates in EcoShape – Building with Nature. This programme brings together Dutch dredging contractors, various universities and large technological institutes, the Dutch government and companies like IHC Merwede and Shell. They are working together to define and develop promising ecodynamic design options for civil structures. IHC Merwede participates in order to learn, but also contributes its own specific technology knowledge. We apply the outcome in our own sustainability programme, which is a long-term internal R&D programme for the development of sustainable dredging and wet mining technology. At present, we are focusing

on defining sustainability and what it means for our technology and internal processes.

This knowledge can also be used in another long term oriented R&D programme in which the Dutch maritime sector is working on “integrated cooperation” as a way to improve design and construction processes. It will be clear that material behaviour plays an important role here as well. Looking to the future, we anticipate that more modern material applications will be required, and we have floated a fundamental research programme in this area as well. This programme encompasses self-healing materials, more wear and tear resistance, rapid prototyping, and the application of artificial materials to replace traditional steel constructions. In our design and construction activities, we continue to encourage the use of dynamic simulation for casting, welding and heat treatment processes as part of future innovative material applications.

The world of mining is starting to push up against the limits of what is possible, and this is leading to more offshore operations. The focus in the 1980s was on manganese nodules. The emphasis at present is on deep sea mining for SMS deposits (Seafloor Massive Sulphides). Moving to depths of more than 2,000 metres puts constraints on technology and operations. High pressures and long vertical transportation distances are some of the interesting and intriguing challenges we face. With our R&D efforts, IHC Merwede is teaming up with some of the world’s leading research institutes for offshore investigation.

As mentioned above, dynamic simulation is becoming an increasingly important design tool. As well as looking into fundamental soil behaviour, materials behaviour and structural

designs, we are also looking into the dynamic behaviour of floating structures and fluid dynamics. Historically, a lot of IHC Merwede R&D work has targeted pumps and hydraulic transportation, but ever-more stringent operational demands have made it important to place greater emphasis on pump behaviour, dynamic forces and efficiency. Considerable progress was made in a doctorate research programme studying particle trajectories inside the impeller of a centrifugal pump. The outcome of this Ph.D. work will enhance our understanding of the dynamic behaviour of centrifugal pumps (figure 3). In turn, this will make it possible to simulate operational pump and transportation processes so that we can predict wear and tear behaviour. Ultimately, this should lead to advisory software for life cycle costing and support (figure 4).

MTI conducts most of this long-term strategic and cutting-edge research and development, with important contributions from other IHC Merwede business units and external organisations. In addition to the dedicated product and process development described here, there is a strong focus on innovation management

and knowledge management. Indeed, we are also designing our own development processes and structures.It will be clear that all of these activities require considerable investment. On average, IHC Merwede contributes 3% of turnover to research and development programmes. To protect our intellectual property rights, we are working hard on establishing our ownership position with respect to the advances we make.

IHC Merwede strives for global market leadership in its fields of operations. All the business units are true centres of excellence in their own areas. The only way to safeguard and further develop our knowledge base and operational processes in our present world of increasing operational constraints is to maintain a continuous focus on research and development. This is what distinguishes IHC Merwede from the competition and defines us as a technology innovator.

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2 The one man operated bridge; starting point for artificial dredging intelligence

3 scale model experimental setup for funded Ph.D. research

4 An example of a CFD application

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On Friday, 30 May 2008 the keel was laid for Van Oord’s new trailing suction hopper dredger VOX DUBAI at the IHC Dredgers shipyard in Kinderdijk. The 31,200m3 ship is the largest of her kind ever built at the yard or in the Netherlands. She will be much larger than the VOLVOX TERRANOVA, which was built in 1997 at the same yard and for the same client, the renowned international dredging and marine contractor Van Oord. This company, which incorporates such famous predecessors as Van Oord-ACZ, Koninklijke Adriaan Volker, Hollandsche Aannemings Maatschappij and Ballast Nedam Dredging, operates the largest trailing suction hopper dredger fleet in the world. Van Oord owns twenty-seven TSHDs, six of which have a hopper capacity of more than 12,000m3. Many vessels have been employed on famous projects such as Palm Jumeirah, Palm Deira and The World in Dubai.

The new dredger will be a ‘mega-dredger’, and will therefore be larger than the ‘jumbo-dredger’ comrades with hopper capacities of 17,000–24,000m3. The bold step forward into the jumbo class was taken only in 1994 with the 17,000m3 PEARL RIVER. Of course, such impressive ships (figure 1) require a relatively extensive preparation, design, building and completion stage. Indeed, when the keel was laid, IHC Dredgers’ project team had already been making preparations for the construction stage for months. They had found that the vessel could never be built to schedule

if IHC Merwede stuck to its normal building approach, however modern and efficient it may be. During a study of solutions in place throughout the world, they found a range of alternatives and brought the best of them together in Kinderdijk.

The situation at Kinderdijk is heavily influenced by the origin of the shipyard in this small village, which is built on a traditional Dutch dike. The village accommodates 19 windmills built in about 1740, which UNESCO added to the World Heritage list in 2007, describing them as an ‘outstanding contribution to the technology of handling water by the people of the Netherlands’. However, despite the appeal of the site to the thousands of tourists and visitors, it makes it impossible to transport the amount of steel (more than ten thousand tons) required for this vessel.

Scaling up hopper dredgersDredging operations in recent decades have involved an increasing share of ever-larger hopper dredgers in dredging operations. Until the 1980s, a 6,000–8,000m3 trailing suction hopper dredger was considered to be a normal size and a 12,000m3 vessel was thought of as large.

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Largest dredger ever in The NetherlandsInnovative construction of mega-class vessel

1 Impressive VOX DUBAI on IHC Dredgers’ indoor slipway, accompanied by the craftsmen who are building her

2 An impression of the enormous number of parts and components to be installed in the ship

VOLVOX TERRANOVA VOX DUBAIOverall length 162.0 metres 203.0 metresBeam 29.0 metres 31.0 metresDepth 12.8 metres 17.5 metresHopper capacity 20,000m3 31,200m3

Scale factor 1 1.6 – 2.0

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As mentioned above, the first jumbo, the PEARL RIVER, came off the slipway in 1994. Since then, development has continued, and nobody can now confidently predict that the scaling up of hopper dredgers will stop with the ‘mega’ class.

The development is easily illustrated by comparing Van Oord’s VOLVOX TERRANOVA, the largest jumbo-vessel ever built in Kinderdijk, with the new ship.

This scaling-up and its consequences were the second reality, in addition to the local heritage, that pushed the builders to resort to unconventional methods and to concentrate on logistics. The new ship was projected to fit in the IHC Dredgers building hall while leaving only minimal clearance on all sides. Furthermore, the ship was to be built from sections that could not be handled by the hall’s cranes, even if we disregard the enormous number of installations to be fitted inside. In short,

the dimensions of the hall, as well as its floor load, storage capacity and the vast number of materials and components to be installed (figures 2-3) required a fresh approach. A unique approachSo project manager Bas Noorland and his team developed a method based on transport over water, increasing the number of vessel sections to be added to the ship each week by comparison with the building method usual in the past. In broad terms, the idea (figure 4) was to introduce a series of measures and procedures to avoid the restrictions of transport, crane capacity and the cumulative effects of delays in the building of any section. The approach is much more about logistics than about technology and shipbuilding, Bas Noorland told Ports and Dredging.The new approach involves outsourcing sections from Kinderdijk to IHC Merwede yards, as well as to third parties. IHC Merwede’s subsidiary, VSH

Shipyard, is located towards the eastern side of the historical fortified town of Heusden, and it also has to reckon with logistical restrictions. Fortunately, both shipyards have easy access to one of the many Dutch rivers. Some of the more than 200 sections of the ship are built at VSH shipyard, and assembled there into larger parts known as ‘blocks’. The

blocks are fitted out as completely as possible. So they include as much of the main equipment for that particular block as possible, e.g. inner piping, bottom doors, engines, etc. The only restrictions are imposed by the height and weight that can be loaded in the next stage, when the whole block is shifted from its building support onto more than 200 wheels of a number of heavy, individually hydraulically operated and remote controlled lorries, that can manoeuvre with complete freedom. These lorries are then steered very slowly and carefully by professional operators, transferring the block to a pontoon that is moored along VSH’s quay – only to face fresh problems! Some of the bridges over the rivers between Heusden en Kinderdijk have only a limited headway. This obstacle was dealt with simply by submerging the pontoons when they pass under a bridge, so that they take a first brief dip in their natural element before actual launching. The operation succeeded

time and again, and the pontoons were delivered regularly to the huge doors leading into the IHC Dredgers slipway hall. There, the operation is reversed: the lorries move slowly from the pontoon to the slipway, carefully maintaining the permitted transverse tolerance of only 20 centimetres and matching the block up precisely with its counterpart already on the slipway. Then welding starts and, after a few days, the ship is 30 metres longer.

Huge increase in shipbuilding speedBuilding according to this plan, only five weeks were needed to lay down nearly 130 metres of ship on the slipway! This is a huge increase in shipbuilding speed. Compare the ‘traditional’ section-a-day approach with the achievement of approximately 75 sections assembled in 5 weeks. After a number of blocks had been laid, further extending the ship, the crowning moment was reached on 3 July 2008 when the two main engines, together with block 1200.1 containing

the engine and pump room base, were added. 30x31x9 metres of ship, a mass of 1,260 tons and about 28 Megawatts of power were added in only one day (figure 5). In subsequent issues, Ports and Dredging will undoubtedly continue its coverage of the VOX DUBAI. For now, a few hard facts and figures: the VOX DUBAI will be 203m long, with a beam of 31m and a moulded depth of 17.5m, bringing her into the mega-hopper dredger category that includes only twelve vessels worldwide. The ship will have a maximum dredging depth of 125m and an operational maximum draught of 14.50m, a total installed power of 31,165kW and a complement of 46 persons. VOX DUBAI is scheduled to be launched in the first half of 2009. As the vessel’s bow barely clears the roof of the shipbuilding hall, the forecastle with accommodation and bridge will be installed after launching.

3 One of the really huge inboard dredge pumps

4 The idea detailed for week after week after week

5 Successful transportation of VOX DUBAI block

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IntroductionLife Cycle Support (LCS) is one of the focuses of IHC Merwede. It has been developed to assist customers in realising optimum performance of dredging equipment at minimum costs of ownership. The trend reflects the growing need of clients to trust on

OEM expertise since equipment becomes more complex, and since experienced and trained personnel can hardly be found. LCS generates short term and long term advantages. The feedback from operational processes is used for innovations which will assist IHC Merwede’s customers in the future. By continuously doing things together, excellent relationships grow between builders, deliverers of main components, contractors and local communities.

LCS is a way to assist customers worldwide in keeping their equipment sound and efficient. Another aim is to reduce costs, environmental impact and downtime. In other words: LCS assists customers in securing uptime, optimising operations, safe processes and financial advantages. The activity provides solutions that allow IHC Merwede’s customers to do extremely well in their own markets.

RIOs in the middle of the fieldLCS can only add value if established closely to the real operations. Therefore IHC Technical Services is developing a worldwide service network. Within the LCS concept, so-called Regional IHC Merwede Organisations (RIOs) have a prominent place. They have direct access to the OEM-knowledge-database of vessels and equipment.

They can also easily resort to actual knowledge, experience and practice of IHC Merwede specialists as well as to the company’s production facilities, logistic organisation and worldwide relationships.

RIOs at several worldwide locations permit IHC Merwede to be a good neighbour of their customers. Everybody knows that neighbours in most cases are of much practical help. So, RIOs have been elevated worldwide last years. The European headquarters are located in Kinderdijk, the Netherlands. China accommodates two RIOs, Singapore one of them, Dubai has a successful RIO, Mumbai recently started. In the course of this article the RIO in Lagos (Nigeria) is presented.

Consistent with IHC Merwede’s vision to be a technology innovator, the deployment of RIOs clearly shows that IHC Merwede is constantly moving from being a deliverer of parts into a full provider of Life Cycle Support. Before concentrating on the Nigerian situation, a summary of LCS and RIO characteristics will be presented first.

A local RIO employs a mix of European and local IHC Merwede experts (figure 2) and local partners who have been granted licenses workshop contracts. The RIOs’ principle is: to be saturated in local technical, commercial and cultural contexts, customs and habits. In this way they can be far more efficient and effective than in the case that support is provided from the Netherlands. The blending of people brings forth highly adaptive, well trained and experienced local inspectors, service engineers and other craftsmen.

The availability of an IHC Merwede RIO is very profitable for contractors and operators: direct assistance from ‘the corner of the street’ and enhanced

1 IHC Merwede-built dredgers at work in Nigeria

2 RIO West Africa employs European and local expertsLife cycle support in actionOpening of Regional IHC Organisation (RIO) in Lagos

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uptime. Fast deliveries and repairs can be attained. Dockings, optimisation of the dredging process, improvement of process-knowledge and efficient procedures will be realised. The RIO cost- and time-effectively assists customers with knowledge, upgrading, parts, components and/or people from excellent OEMs as e.g. IHC Lagersmit, IHC Systems, training institute TID, or any party involved in the original building of the equipment. The full extent of IHC Merwede’s capacities comes available at a one-stop shop. To provide solutions and take care of customer’s output, that is, in short, Life Cycle Support.

Nigeria and DredgingNigeria (figures 3-4), located along the western coast of Africa, encloses nearly one million square kilometres and is cross-sectioned by two large rivers, the Niger and the Benue. There are many resources such as natural gas, petroleum, tin, iron ore and other minerals, as well as large areas of arable land. It is the largest African country qua population, 1 of every 7 Africans is Nigerian. The country is the world’s 6th largest oil producer. Lagos is the largest city with its population of about 15 million, and the economic and financial capital of Nigeria. Port Harcourt heads the oil-rich Niger-Delta (figure 5).

Main drivers of dredging activity in Nigeria are: land reclamation for estates and the oil industry; digging trenches for gas lines; maintenance and capital dredging in rivers and ports (figures 5-6); mining of sands for housing; beach nourishment. Much of this work is performed by contractors from abroad. However, an astonishing part is taken by private persons, operating a ‘dredger’as in old Dutch times (figure 7).And there are lots of them, providing welfare to many local communities (figure 8).

But not only dredging by manpower is involved. In the past, Nigerian contractors bought diesel engine- driven dredgers from IHC Merwede

(figure 9). Between 1968 and 1990 there was a lot of dredging business in Nigeria, followed by a stand-still in the nineties of the 20th century. Then in 2000, dredging started booming again. The above business drivers and the high sand prices now make dredging interesting and rewarding. The very large dredging and reclamation works remain to be done by the large contractors, but there is an enormous and growing market in which small and medium contractors could deploy business, apparently without end.

The Nigerian dredging business has to overcome a number of specific constraints. One of them is that intelligent financing for small to

medium dredging contractors should be developed in the light of Nigeria’s debt position and the lack of trust at banks from abroad. The second problem to address is the delivery of dredging equipment within a relatively bad transportation and logistics infrastructure that hampers everything, ranging from bringing a complete dredger into its location up to the delivery of even the smallest spare parts. Equipment, brought to the country should therefore be of a high and enduring quality, that can easily be maintained by relatively small efforts and simple means and procedures. The third specific Nigerian problem with dredging is the entire lack of qualified dredging operators,

engineers and other craftsmen. IHC Merwede worked on solving these issues. The fruits of their efforts came in the years since 2000, when more and more Nigerian businessmen started dredging enterprises. It resulted in the sales of about 30 dredgers of the IHC Beaver type, accompanied by four booster stations, twelve workboats, three tugboats and a large quantity of pipelines and spare parts to 19 different customers. As IHC Merwede is determined to set high standards, they never simply drop a dredger in Nigeria, but totally assist the customers with assembly, commissioning, training and further support on the spot. The situation required a more permanent presence: a RIO should be established.

3 Map of Nigeria

4 Mangrove forest

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5 The Niger Delta

6 IHC Beaver dredger making its production figures


RIO West AfricaIHC Merwede RIO West Africa started in Lagos, Nigeria in April 2008 and acquired legal status. An accompanying seminar in Lagos took the interest of more than 120 representatives from Nigeria’s financial, industrial and dredging world. A trained staff is available, comprising both Dutchmen and Nigerians and they are fully able to apply the benefits of a RIO. And it works. Every sole dredger confirms IHC Merwede’s reputation as a company that serves its clients with dedication, support, training and enduring quality, giving them the opportunity to excel.

The RIO now already provides much technical support, fast repairs,

customized maintenance planning and -programmes, service engineering and much more (figures 10-11). Gradually the activities are extended with renovation and spare part sales. There are plans to grow further and to provide storage of parts, to set up technical and operational training and the optimisation of import processes. Inspection surveys have already been performed, renovations and repairs completed. Lengthening of dredgers and full service to customers are in progress, new market opportunities are under investigation.

One important feature will characterize the RIO. Their efforts and services will always be in close concert with the local Dutch and Nigerian communities,

who are all of much help for the IHC Merwede people.

Let us conclude with the opinion of one of IHC Merwede’s customers. Shoreline Dredging & Oil Services, a Port Harcourt-based enterprise sticks to the highest standards of corporate governance, ethical conduct and performance. Dr. Olumide Amos-Oluwole, the Managing Director of the company is a medical trained person who has learnt that errors can be fatal and that prevention is always better than cure. He has an optimistic vision on the future of Nigeria’s industry. His firm undertakes a broad range of activities in the dredging and oil world, leases marine and construction equipment and supplies sand and

minerals, chemicals and tools to oil companies. Shoreline is a CEDA member and Dr. Amos-Oluwole is President of the Nigerian section and Vice President of the African Section. Only two quotations from Shoreline’s Company Profile may appeal to the hearts of the dredging family: “Shoreline believes in training and retraining of its crew and has thus invested substantially in these. Hence, its ability to stay above others in terms of efficiency and professionalism in its services”. And: “The two critical success factors for Shoreline are the quality of its equipment and personnel. It therefore purchases its equipment from a leading manufacturer in the world, IHC Merwede.”

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7 Nigerian people succeed in earning a daily life with the help of means in which retired dredge masters from the Netherlands recognize their predecessor’s tools

8 Many a little makes a mickle!

9 IHC Beaver dredger at work in Nigeria

10 A potential candidate for planned maintenance: cutter ladder with gearbox

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11 IHC Merwede’s Service Engineer Mr. Robert Meijer cheerfully cooperating with Nigerian contractor’s crew to solve a maintenance problem

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Exploration Evaluation Mining

SEISMIC PROFILINGSIDE SCAN SONAR

BATHYSCANSEABED VIDEO

EXPLORATION SAMPLING

EVALUATIONSAMPLING

MINERALRESOURCE

FACTORDETERMINATION

MINE PLANNING:SBP AND SHORT-TERM

PRODUCTIONMONITORING

RESOURCE / RESERVE PERFORMANCE(Reconciliation, audit and analysis)

MINERAL RESERVE

GEOLOGICAL MODELSESTIMATION

GLOBAL ESTIMATE

TARGETSELECTION

IntroductionThe southwest coast of Africa has been endowed with a unique treasure of placer diamonds. These deposits originate from kimberlites in the southern African hinterland that were transported to the coastal areas principally by the Orange River drainage system. Land resources of diamonds deplete over time, and the technology and know-how for economic marine mining have matured, creating the conditions for the progressive exploration and mining of marine deposits.

De Beers has a long history of placer mining on land and it is the largest producer and marketer of gem diamonds by value in the world. With the formation of De Beers Marine in 1983, the De Beers Group became actively involved in deepwater marine diamond exploration and mining offshore Namibia and South Africa. Namibia has the richest marine diamond deposits in the world, and 2005 marked a historic milestone as marine production surpassed land production in Namibia for the first time ever. In 2007, marine diamond production by the De Beers Group passed the 1 million carat mark (1 carat = 0.2 grams).

ExplorationDe Beers’ marine diamond operation covers the entire value-chain spectrum from geology and geo-surveying, through sampling to mining, and finally the processing of ore into high-value concentrate.

Any mining venture starts with exploration. Marine mining is no different in principle; it is made more complicated only by the spatially diverse and geologically complex nature of the deposit. Placer deposits are notoriously difficult and expensive to evaluate due to the lack of homogeneity in the deposit. The value

chain in figure 2 has evolved to the point where the reserve is developed on a rolling basis, rather than working with a full bankable reserve defined up front. Surveys and sampling are conducted in parallel with mining operations to maintain an adequate reserve for future operations and capital expansion, as well as to replace the reserves that are depleted annually.

While most of the sampling activity is directed to resource and reserve generation from well-defined target locations within the deposit, a certain fraction is also directed towards the exploration and identification of new target locations. This is essential, not only to secure new areas that will be required in the future as production depletes known areas, but also to evaluate the comparative economic value of potential targets and to seek out the highest net present value options.

Disparate target locations are additionally beneficial when operating a large production fleet, as each vessel requires a definite exclusion zone to ensure safe operating. As new capacity is introduced, this requirement becomes more pressing.

MiningSince full-scale commercial mining commenced around 1991, the De Beers’ marine mining capability has grown into a fleet of eight large deep-water (up to 150m) mining vessels, as well as other special-purpose geo-survey vessels.

Five of these vessels excavate the diamondiferous gravel with a large-diameter drilling device on a compensated steel pipe drill string. The drill vessels (figures 3-4) move systematically from hole to hole by heaving on a four-anchor spread. An airlift system transports the excavated material into the treatment plant on board the support vessel.

New opportunitiesIHC Merwede technology supports offshore diamond mining

1 IHC Merwede 162.5-35-70 dredge pump and its 2.4MW drive on the way from Kinderdijk to Cape Town

2 De Beers’ marine diamond mining value chain

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The latest two additions to the fleet, m.v. YA TOIVO and m.v. PEACE IN AFRICA (figure 5-8) both use a track-mounted crawler that moves along the sea-floor, sucking up diamond-bearing gravels with a boom-mounted suction nozzle. The excavated material is transported from the crawler to the vessel through a flexible slurry hose.

The pumping power on the crawlers of the YA TOIVO and PEACE IN AFRICA is supplied by a 3-bladed IHC Merwede 162.5-35-70 dredge pump, driven by a 2.4MW variable speed drive. So IHC Parts & Services delivered identical pump sets for the YA TOIVO and PEACE IN AFRICA. The selection of this particular pump and drive followed after pumping studies performed byIHC Merwede’s R&D institute, MTI Holland, in close cooperation with De Beers Marine. The principal characteristics of the selected pump are:• a large passage to optimise clean-up of the mining area and

minimise the risk of blocking the impeller (increasing uptime);• a relatively low speed to reduce the overall wearing rate,

increasing uptime as a result;• a working point close to the best efficiency point to utilise the

drive’s power to the full and minimise wear, both local and general.

These characteristics demonstrate that the prime focus during selection was on optimising the overall uptime of the pump, and therefore the overall uptime of the crawler and its supporting vessel. Very recently, De Beers further increased the crawler vessels’ uptime and therefore the annual capacity of these vessels by commissioning a spare crawler. This new spare crawler can replace the crawlers on board the YA TOIVO and PEACE IN AFRICA. The spare crawler is, of course, also equipped with the 3-bladed IHC Merwede 162.5-35-70 dredge pump and a 2.4MW variable speed drive (figure 9).

On board both the drill and crawler vessels, diamonds are extracted from the gravel by means of a multi-stage process. The gravel is dewatered and undersize/oversize removed by means of vibrating primary screens. After the removal of shell material from the plant feed with various comminuting technologies, the gravel is fed through Dense Media Separation (DMS) cyclone pumps to produce a heavy, diamond-enriched concentrate that passes through an X-ray circuit that separates luminescent material (including diamonds).The final output of the mining activity is a high-value concentrate, which for security reasons is sealed on the vessel in tin cans and dispatched via helicopter to the onshore sorthouse facilities.

All mining vessels stay at sea in cycles of up to three years between statutory in-port maintenance, and are refuelled at sea. Vessels operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, with crew members working in twelve-hour shifts, and rotating 28 days on board followed by 28 days on leave. Crew are transferred to and from the vessels by helicopter.

A complex operation of this scale conducted along a remote and somewhat hostile coastline requires a considerable support infrastructure. The De Beers service departments have therefore focused on the main operational challenges: from securing the product to coordinating the movements of personnel to and from the vessels, maintenance of the fleet, and ensuring that activities take place in a safe and environmentally responsible manner. In both South Africa and Namibia, activities are ISO certified for Environmental Management, and high safety standards and a safety culture are vigorously promoted.

Technical challengesSpecific challenges exist in terms of developing appropriate technology for marine mining. So De Beers has extensive in-house R&D facilities and large project departments, and it also works with technology partners such as IHC Merwede.

To meet the unique challenges of marine diamond mining, De Beers has invested heavily in facilities that support the development of mining-tool technology. Two large, scale test facilities for mining tools have been established in the Cape Town region, and a specialised scale tool testing and visualisation facility has been established at the De Beers research laboratories in Johannesburg. One of the Cape Town facilities is used primarily for crawler-based research and development. This allows the company to both qualify and quantify the performance of scale models of mining tools, tools which often incorporate ‘traditional’

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3 Drill vessel DEBMAR PACIFIC leaving Cape Town

4 Large diameter drill (LDD) on deck

5 PEACE IN AFRICA on station

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dredging processes like erosion, excavation, fluidisation and hydraulic transport. These traditional processes are made special, even for MTI Holland, by De Beers’ specific challenges: the excavation and transportation of coarse gravel with cobbles and boulders, water depths of up to 150 metres and the required 100% recovery rate for the diamonds.

The emphasis of much R&D activity is on increasing mining rates. This quest for a higher mining rate stems from the need to reduce the cost per square metre mined, since this is the primary factor determining the cut-off grade that can be mined economically. Reducing the cut-off grade makes it possible to move larger areas from resources into reserve, and to optimise the life of the mine and the net present value of the resource. However, the required increase in the mining rate often comes with an increase in the size and weight of the pump, and an increase in pumping power. This increase in weight, size and power, in combination with the limited possibilities when using a crawler as a platform for the pump and its drive, together with an umbilical to feed the electric power to the crawler, means that any engineer will be faced with major challenges.

A final challenge when increasing the mining rate waits on board the support vessel, in the treatment plant. The flow is separated here into equal fractions for dewatering and sizing. As the head feed flow rate increases, the flow has to be diverted to an increasing number of sizing processes. Balancing these flows is important for downstream performance. However, the design also needs to allow for individual streams to be shut off for maintenance purposes, without significant disruption to the flow split to the remaining streams. The design of the splitting device is therefore critical.Dewatering and sizing have traditionally taken place simultaneously on vibrating screens. However, the demands of increasing slurry flow rates are resulting in new ways of dewatering becoming the norm. Static dewatering panels and overflowing weirs and hoppers are becoming essential. Obviously, overflowing must be accomplished in a way that minimises the risk of diamond loss.

In turn, the move to overflowing hoppers imposes additional requirements on the re-fluidisation needed for the further processing of material that may consist of sticky clay, and contain rocks or other coarse objects. New and challenging technologies must therefore be developed and matured, preferably with minimal impact on operational assets, that can

then be brought to bear in new and upgraded marine mining systems.

ConclusionIt is generally acknowledged that one of the world’s largest and most valuable resources of gem quality diamonds is contained in the exposed marine gravel beaches and adjacent territorial waters along the western coasts of Namibia and South Africa. As only the best-quality diamonds survive the transportation process from the South African hinterland, the marine diamonds are of exceptional colour, clarity and quality. These characteristics ensure constant demand for marine diamonds in the jewellery market.

De Beers is the world’s leading diamond mining company. With more than 100 years of experience in building and operating diamond mines, De Beers has developed and operated more diamond mines than any company in history. Today the De Beers Group’ operates a substantial fleet of vessels mining diamonds in offshore concessions along the coasts of Namibia and South Africa. The high capacity crawler vessels of this fleet are equipped with dredging technology delivered by IHC Merwede.

Reference

Richardson, K. A perspective of marine mining within De Beers. Hydrotransport

17, The 17th International Conference on the Hydraulic Transport of Solids. The

South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and the BHR Group, 2007.

6 YA TOIVO crawler launch

7 YA TOIVO crawler on deck

8 3d drawing of DBM crawler

9 Back view of crawler, showing 2.4MW drive and IHC Merwede pump

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The Karachi Port Trust (KPT)The Karachi Port of Pakistan is administered by a Board of Trustees. The Chairman is also the Chief Executive of Karachi Port Trust. Trustees are equally distributed between the public and the private sector. These people and the people they represent are heirs to an inheritance that has been known as a safe harbour since time immemorial. Historians attach Karachi’s region to events so ancient as Alexander’s journey in 326 B.C, and the landing of the first Muslim Conqueror of India in 711 AD. Karachi itself is the birth place of the founder of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, and was the first capital of Pakistan till 1963. Currently it is the country’s largest city, population over 10 million people. The earliest written evidence stems from 1558: The Arabic treatise Muhit, on navigation, warns the sailors of whirlpools and advises them to seek safety in Karachi Harbour if they find themselves drifting dangerously. The development leading to the current shape of the Port started in 1854 with the activity of dredging the main navigation channel. More about the port’s history can be found on KPT’s website.

The Board of Trustees is not only the representative of a glorious past. They are also ambitious and look into the future. In her Internet Chairman’s Message, Mrs. Nasreen Haque announces: “KPT, which is aptly referred to as the “Gateway to Pakistan”, carries with it a great heritage. This heritage dates back to the establishment of the Trust over a century ago, in 1887. It is, therefore, only logical that this heritage should be carried forward into realizing a vibrant future for the Port and that is exactly what its present employees

and users are striving for.” According to her, the Port is the source of livelihood to millions of people, which provide the momentum to move forward. KPT plans to “Transform Karachi Port into a Modern, Competitive, User Friendly and a Transhipment Hub of the Region”. KPT desires to respond to global needs, is expanding services, facilitates swift vessel manoeuvring and has installed a modern ship guidance model and extensive safety facilities. Summarizing, KPT is hard working to transform the Port to an important, modern and user friendly regional hub at the borders of the Arabian Sea. Citing Mrs. Haque again: “KPT is your partner in progress. It, therefore, invites all its patrons and clients to enter this era of development with a positive mind and be ready to accept all challenges. Together we can excel and make this Port a landmark on the map of efficient and modern ports.”

Growing from 1.5 million tons of dry cargo and 1.0 million tons of products in 1947, the port now processes more than 26 million tons of cargo, including 652,315 TEUs annually. Karachi stands in the middle of 80% of the country’s trade. The ambitions to grow further bring forth a lot of business, among others the construction of roads and container terminals, the installation of pipelines, and last but not least: the deepening of channels. It is for the fulfilment of this aspiration that KPT invited the industry to offer on an open, international and competitive tender for the procurement of a trailing suction hopper dredger, including spare parts. Among others IHC Merwede prequalified and ultimately won the tender, resulting in the contract for building the TSHD ABUL. In a time in which the delivery of the main engines alone could delay the

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TSHD ABULModern dredger for ambitious Port Authorities


process for months, they succeeded in designing, building, launching and commissioning the ship amply within a schedule of only 22 months.KPT already owned a modest dredger fleet, comprising a 1969-built grab hopper dredger, a bucket ladder dredger from 1994 and one 2,000m3 trailing suction hopper dredger, commissioned 1981, carrying the name MAHMUD-UL HASAN. This fleet, though, does not have the power and capacity, required for KPT’s ambitions. Therefore, much dredging work in the recent past had

been performed by dredge contractors from abroad. KPT decided to do a part of these jobs themselves and developed a few guidelines for the design of the dredger:• It should be state-of-the-art and

competitive in the Pakistani and regional context.

• It should be operated by the optimum number of crew members, for which day and night accommodation should be available.

• The engines should be dimensioned in such a way that high power could be maintained even at large intervals of maintenance.

• Delivery should be accompanied by an extensive operational coaching program to train local crew in reaching modern levels of motivation, dredging knowledge and

competitiveness.• The ship should have hopper

contents of 6,000m3 and should be provided with twin screws and two 700-millimetres suction tubes for a dredging depth of 20 metres.

A modern dredger …World market leader IHC Merwede built the ship under the supervision of Lloyds Register of Shipping. Eventually KPT became the owner of trailing suction hopper dredger TSHD ABUL.

From a shipbuilder’s point of view the TSHD ABUL is of a sober, although modern concept. It complies with a kind of IHC Merwede’s practice, craftsmanship and experience which is built in all their vessels as a kind of a standard. These features ensure their ships working flawlessly and indefatigable in the tough world of dredging. The suction tube winches (figure 1) are hydraulically driven and the dredge pump (figure 2) is directly coupled to the main engines by a switchable flexible coupling. Both the jet pumps and the twin bow thrusters are electrically driven fixed-speed types. These bow thrusters and the twin propulsion screws have been designed as controllable propellers (CPP), which permit variable thrust at constant shaft speeds. Additionally, applying the guidelines laid down by KPT, the two Wärtsilä 9L32 main engines of 3100kW each, can indeed run on 85% of their power as a minimum for longer periods.

The TSHD ABUL can swallow her payload from the sea bottom by two flexible suction tubes, normally equipped with IHC Merwede standardized drag heads, although some first experiments with more sophisticated drag heads have been performed. The dredged soil

is delivered in the hopper by two dredge pumps of 1,260kW each, the superfluous water runs off via a controllable overflow duct in the front area of the hopper. A central keelson box serves the largest hopper volume possible within the ship’s dimensions (figure 3). The hopper contents can be unloaded by two rows of five rectangular double bottom doors, or alternatively be pumped ashore over a shore pipe connection, which is also the receptor for a rainbow pipe. During discharging ashore or rainbowing, the dredge pumps can be switched in series, in order to add full power to the mixture. In that situation the mixture is lead to the dredge pumps through two rows of five self-emptying doors, located at the keelson box.

The bridge and the accommodation have been located in the forecastle, the pump- and engine room have been situated in the aft ship. In this way the pumps can easily be connected to the suction tubes without extra suction losses. Buoyancy is divided rather equally over the ship in this proven IHC Merwede design.

Three additional features were applied on the ship. The first one is easily visible for people accustomed to ships as they observe the upper layer of rather large windows in the forecastle (figure 4). They betray that KPT installed a training room in their new flag-ship, equipped with educational and audiovisual training facilities. The room is used for training staff and crew of the entire fleet on the spot. The second peculiarity

concerns a more technological issue. When TSHD ABUL sailed to Pakistan in November 2007, a small survey boat, called FATIMA was tied up on top of the hopper. She is the first one that is able to survey on line with IHC Systems’ Dredge Track Presentation System (DTPS). This comfortable system has already been applied on numerous hopper dredgers for processing data from surveys and presenting accurate bathymetric charts to the skipper, but until then DTPS had not been used for the collection of data as such (figures 5-6). The combination of DTPS on board of both ships now warrants that the TSHD ABUL can dredge accurately and efficiently, based on real-time assessment of port- and sea bottom data. The third adaption to the situation is, that IHC Merwede detailed the spares, required for in the tender, in order to provide as much value possible to the money available. So the operation of the ship was secured and exactly adapted to her situation.

… and a unique training conceptNow the really remarkable part emerges. In order to overcome the lack of operational and technical knowledge and experienced crew to operate a dredger of the 21st century, KPT bestowed upon IHC Merwede the selection and delivery of sufficient operational spares, consumables and storages, as well as the continuous training of KPT crew in the operation and maintenance of the ship during a full year. This training – following a basic equipment training of KPT’s technical staff at IHC Merwede’s

Training Institute for Dredging (TID) – had to be performed on a 24/7 basis and on the spot. This requirement in practice implies that a team of IHC Merwede skippers and ditto chief engineers, sometimes added up with other officers should be aboard the TSHD ABUL continually. The target was to have a complete Pakistani KPT crew well experienced and able to perform all aspects of dredging – including assessment and planning of maintenance – within a year. So a kind of cooperation was to be performed in which KPT took full responsibility for the commercial, legal and geographic aspects of dredging, whereas IHC Merwede was responsible for what can be said to be the technical ship management by continually assisting KPT’s crew.

To fulfil this responsibility, IHC Merwede mobilised forces under the inspiring supervision of Captain Marc Fransen, manager of the Service & Guarantee (S&G) department. After preparations in Holland, they sailed the TSHD ABUL to Karachi in November 2007 and held fresh sea trials to demonstrate proper performance of the ship to the full satisfaction of KPT. Postponed by a worsening safety situation, a new start could only be made on 18 February 2008.

According to Mr. Marc Fransen, the whole has been proven a success already. Mutual trust is growing between Pakistani and Dutchmen, between dredge contractors and dredge shipbuilders. The situation

1 Hydraulic trunnion winch, gantry and service frame

2 One of the dredge pumps just being installed

3 Central keelson box with jetwater nozzles, bottom doors’ and self-emptying doors’ control rods, and moveable overflow duct with position sensor on its top

4 Training room windows

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is instructive for both parties: shipbuilders become accustomed to operational issues and practical values of dredging parameters by own experience, the dredge crew is continually provided with OEM knowledge on every detail of their ship. Encouraged by the example of the IHC Merwede men, their self-confidence and abilities are growing and they develop a positive attitude to planned maintenance – which saves hosts of money, otherwise caused by downtime and excessive wear and tear. Naturally, there are difficulties also, sometimes on demarcation, sometimes on responsibilities, sometimes …

However, considering the whole thing, it is a success indeed. IHC Merwede proves able to take care of the cares of their customers and is rewarded by operational and technical data with which they can support KPT and other clients e.g with the development of a Planned Maintenance System (PMS). The intention of such a system is to generate maintenance tasks, stockpile management, reporting and the provision of embedded manuals, and to facilitate considerable uptime increase. The crew is rewarded by the ability to operate and manage a 21st century vessel more and more independently and efficiently – and by production. Fully complying with KPT’s strategy it is a win-win situation for both parties.

IHC Systems has established an automatic online satellite connection to the TSHD ABUL. At any moment they can exchange software, real-time assisting a ship at the other side of the globe from their desks in the Netherlands. A service docking to survey the TSHD ABUL’s total condition is scheduled in cooperation with the Dubai RIO at the end of the first operational year. After the docking IHC Technical Services will take over the supporting role. Guess what seems to be the ultimate indication for the growing mutual appreciation of the partners? KPT invited IHC Merwede to discuss an extended cooperation for no less than three years. A tempting invitation!

A satisfying new startThe Pakistan Daily of Wednesday, 14 May 2008 proudly announced: “The Karachi Port Trust (KPT) has become first to accommodate a 270-metre long vessel of 12 metres draught. According to a press release, issued on Tuesday mv ‘Hyundai Admiral’, carrying 4,400 TEUs, was safely docked at Karachi International Container Terminal (KICT) last week. To accommodate the huge ship, which was personally welcomed by KPT Chairman, the Trust had dredged its approach channel and berthing basin on war footings”.

TSHD ABUL principal characteristicsBuilt IHC Dredgers B.V, Kinderdijk 2007Type Trailing Suction hopper DredgerOwner Karachi Port Trust PakistanLength overall (hull) 104,40mLength 98,60mBeam 20,00mDraught International Freeboard 6,80mDraught (dredging mark) 7,65mHopper capacity 6,000m3

Deadweight all told at international mark 7,595tDeadweight all told at dredging mark 9,250tDredging depth 20mSuction tube diameter 700mmMain engines power 6,200kWDredge pump power 2,520kWBow thrusters power 600kWTotal installed power 7,040kWSpeed, loaded 13,5 knotsAccommodation 25 persons

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5 FATIMA’s equipment under test at IHC Systems’, only separated from TSHD ABUL’s cradle by Sliedrecht’s Marina entrance

6 Adjustment page for FATIMA’s (and TSHD ABUL’s) DGPS and DTPS system

7 TSHD ABUL and her mates already moved 1.5 millions of cubic metres of soil

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To reach the accomplishment, we learnt from the newspaper that KPT engaged their entire fleet in the operation: the trailing suction hopper dredgers TSHD ABUL and MAHMOOD-UL HASAN, backhoe dredger ALI (figure 7) and bucket ladder dredger AFTAB. Together they removed around 1.5 million cubic metres of silt in only one month. We at Ports and Dredging are convinced that the TSHD ABUL and her crew made the greatest contribution to the result. We congratulate KPT with their new ship, their new facilities and the reward of their entrepreneurship. May these developments contribute to the further health and wealth of the region.


More than 1000 portsOne of the developments in China is an adaptation of the country’s law in 1998, which gave the more than thousand Chinese ports an autonomous status. Port Authorities soon looked for ways to develop the respective assets and to rise funds for that purpose. The former state owned dredge companies under the China Harbour Engineering Group (CHEC) became public companies in 2004 and several private investors entered into the dredge market. Ports like Huang Hua port, Tianjin Port and the Yangzte Estuary Waterway Administration Board invested in their own dredge equipment.

There is a large need for deepening of harbours and reclamation of sand for industrial zones. The Chinese dredging fleet at that time consisted of aged cutter suction dredgers and a modest trailing suction hopper dredger fleet, dating from the seventies of the 20th century, fourteen of them built at IHC Merwede yards in the Netherlands. Only a few relatively modern IHC Merwede-built trailing suction hopper dredgers were available from the nineties of the 20th century. The slow process of modernisation of the dredge fleet was greatly caused by the reorganisation processes of the Chinese government during the eighties and nineties of the last century, followed by what we now know as the Asia Crisis. In spite of these state of affairs, three contracts were awarded to IHC Merwede at the change of the millennium: for the XIN HAI LONG (TSHD 12,000m3), the WANG QIN SHA (10,000m3) and the TONG TAN (3,500m3). Then, enforced by high import duties and the strongly increased Euro at one side, and the urgent demand from the inland market at the other side, dredge owners turned to local building of dredgers.

From the start of the development of local building of dredgers IHC Merwede was closely accompanying the Chinese dredging market on the spot and offered some modest assistance at the background. In 2004 the Long Won Port Group commissioned a brand new and modern cutter suction dredger with 750mm suction pipe diameter, a dredging depth of 25 metres and 7,823kW of power installed. It was a product of Dutch-Chinese cooperation, with Wenchong Shipyard in Guangzhou building the structure and IHC Merwede delivering the main dredging installation, knowledge and commissioning. This FU MIN 9 HAO was followed in 2006 by the BEIYA 1 HAO, commissioned for Qingdao North Asia Construction Engineering Company, built under the same circumstances. Both dredgers set new standards on yield figures and became the reason for CHEC subsidiary Guangzhou Dredging Company to venture a big first step and to order two new IHC Merwede cutter suction dredgers at once. It was the beginning of an unequalled success in which IHC Merwede and Chinese yards cooperatively are building more than 25 dredgers and the end is not within sight yet. This about the backgrounds, now let’s turn to more specific information.

Specific requirements and visionThe Chinese market puts remarkable requirements on shipbuilders and dredging contractors. Let’s start with commercial and strategic considerations. The first of them is, that the Chinese people are only willing to do business with people they know to be reliable and to have a consistent vision. Second, the Chinese government stimulates the development of the own industry and imposes heavy import duties in order to attain that purpose. Furthermore there is the language barrier between the Chinese and

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1 The output of an IHC 7025MP® is used to shape new ground for a Chinese port

2 Training of a dredger’s crew

New building in cooperationIHC Merwede reinforces Chinese port development

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Indo-European languages that requires a dedicated approach. Finally, Chinese people require good stuff for good money and like a durable relationship with people who work for them, preferably leaving to the latter to solve the tough parts of a project as evidence of good faith.

On the operational level Chinese contractors meet a host of very specific requirements. As many dredging works start in the middle of nowhere, there is the need for ‘handy’ dredgers, large discharge distances and a high degree of autonomy and accommodation facilities for day and night. The Chinese weather pattern with its frequent typhoons requires fast mobilisation and demobilisation features. Last but not least: as the Dredge market in China really exploded since 2005, it caused a great shortage of experienced personnel at all levels of operation. So training and extensive documentation should preferably be an indissoluble part of any purchase of equipment.

IHC Merwede was able to translate these requirements into a realistic vision

on what a typical Chinese cutter suction dredger should be, how it should be built and how the utmost support could be given to owners. In general this vision runs as follows: a typical cutter suction dredger should be a powerful, versatile and sturdy dredger in one. Optional booster stations should be available for long discharge distances. A dredger must have anchor booms as a standard to secure independence of tugboats. An extended accommodation should serve a good ‘hotel’ function day and night. The ship must be equipped with interchangeable cutter heads and dredging wheels in order to cope with very different soil types. Spud tilting must be a matter of little time for the sake of fast mobilisation and demobilisation.On a more operational level of thinking, essential components should meet high quality standards, be highly wear-resistant and easily interchangeable within a ship and between ships in order to facilitate low costs of ownership. So a high degree of standardisation is required, rather than customising. The emphasis should lay on robustness and uptime, not on the last percents of

performance as there is no crew who can master the complicated knowledge and procedures required for those last percents within the first years.

Probably the most intriguing feature in the whole development is the way of cooperation between IHC Merwede, Chinese Contractors and Chinese Shipyards and the approach to relationship which seems obvious for the company in the present time, but was in fact gradually and newly developed in the process of entering this specific Chinese dredging market. It is worth a fresh paragraph.

New-building in cooperationThe conditions and strategies mentioned before, require an approach in which carefully should be balanced between customer’s needs, authorities’ strategies and economical restraints. To this mixture must be added IHC Merwede’s ambition to be the technology innovator and the market leader in dredging-related ship- and equipment construction, as well as the Chinese ambition to gradually develop knowledge and craftsmanship

in this area. The first part of it was carefully listening and understanding what this typical market would require from IHC Merwede. In the course of the process it led to a constructive solution in which the Dredging Contractors can face low Costs of Ownership, in which Chinese shipyards can enhance turnover and development by traditionally building the hull of dredgers (figure 3) and the accommodation, and install main equipment such as e.g. the diesel engines and generators. In the same spirit IHC Merwede delivers the design, the drawings and essential main dredger components. Such a division of products and disciplines is not the only thing to make a success of the programme. Therefore IHC Merwede developed a proactive approach, considering the specific Chinese circumstances. It is a process starting with the delivery of technical services and parts for the existing fleet, running through a growth from supplier of components to deliverer of a concept, and ending at the guidance and practice of a total dredger construction cooperation.

In this present stage components and engineering are not only delivered, but these parts are produced at local IHC Merwede yards in China or at local factories to which IHC Merwede has built a strong relationship and has granted the qualification of trusted supplier. It is accompanied by extended services delivered by the so-called Regional IHC Merwede Organisations (RIOs) on which more in this issue. These RIOs, located in Tianjin, Guangzhou and Tanggu provide services ranging from financial engineering and consultancy to dredge training (figure 2) and Life Cycle Support. It goes without saying that such an intricate teaming up with clients and builders so far from the home base in the Netherlands should have an own model. At IHC Engineering Services, which coordinates the process, they call it ‘New-building in cooperation’.

Two dredger types for the Chinese marketAll activities together lead to the development and continuous cooperative construction of two

successful cutter suction dredger series with which Chinese contractors and crew really can do a good job in their country. Highly standardised, self-supporting and complying with the rules of Chinese Classification Society CCS, they easily meet all conditions stated in the paragraphs above. Although standardised, their modular composition allows a high degree of versatility. Both series are equipped with genuine IHC Merwede and OEM components (figure 4-8) – either fabricated in the Netherlands or locally – comprising, dependent on scope of the specific dredger:• Dredge pumps, rubber ring gate

valves, gearboxes, ball turning glands from IHC Parts & Services.

• Ladder, easily interchangeable lower ladder with cutter or dredge wheel, spud carrier, anchor boom installation of IHC Beaver Dredgers.

• Hydraulic package and winches of IHC Hytop, or

• Electric winches and frequency drives of IHC Merwede OEMs.

• A basic instrumentation package of IHC Systems, expandable to a full automatic control package.

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3 Traditional building of a modern dredger

4 IHC Merwede cutter head

5 Locally fabricated spud carrier

6 Hydraulic control components from Hytop

7 IHC Systems’ integrated velocity and density transmitter

8 Easily interchangeable lower ladder

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First the IHC 7025MP® series was developed (figure 9). This dredger is constructed around a locally built, sturdy mono pontoon hull. Its pipelines have a diameter of 70 centimetres and it can dredge at maximum depths of 25 metres. It can be powered by trusted diesel engines, including Chinese ones. Cutter and winches are hydraulically driven. The submerged ladder pump is electrically powered, the inboard pump is directly driven by one of the diesel engines. The built-in genuine IHC Merwede and OEM components ensure productivity at levels amazing the Chinese dredge world: say, for example 1,500m3/hr at a discharge distance of 7,000 metres. The addition of a second inboard pump – or a separate booster station of a congruent design – will prolong discharge distance up to 11,500 metres at the same production figures. That amazing impression is mirrored by the sheer fact that 19 examples of IHC 7025MP® have been sold for scheduled commissioning from 2008 till 2010. Of course, the IHC 7025MP® boasts anchor booms, easily tiltable spuds and full accommodation, which considerably

enhance the dredger’s autonomy and mobilisation/demobilisation capacities. For more technical data we refer to the table at the end of this article.

The total engineering package comes from cooperating IHC Merwede subsidiaries, who also supervise commissioning and training of the crew. For training purposes IHC Merwede has a modern training centre in Guangzhou, including a state-of-the art cutter dredger simulator (see Ports and Dredging 169).

The efficiency of these ‘small’ dredgers within the total concept remarkably matched with the increasing demand for yet more dredging capacity and longer discharge distances. Therefore IHC Merwede – again in close cooperation with all Chinese counterparts developed a medium size cutter suction dredger with a total installed power of 13,270kW,a maximum dredging depth of 27 metres and a delivery pipe diameter of 85 centimetres. This IHC 8527MP® dredger boasts a design in which functionality and patented aesthetics will be combined (figure 10).

The dredger has fully electric winches and cutter drive in order to cope more efficiently with the heavier loads related to this power. Besides that this dredger fully comprises all IHC 7025MP® functionality, it can also drive two inboard dredge pumps which assist it to reach production figures as high as 3,000m3/hr at a delivery length of approx 12,000 metres. Amazing again. And typical for the trustful relationship Chinese contractors have developed with IHC Merwede, 8 (eight!) of these splendid dredgers have been sold meanwhile for 2009-2010, two of them fully automated with IHC Systems’ Automatic Cutter Controller (ACC). These contractors adventured the acquisition, trusting on the engineering package alone, because there was no ‘living’ example of this dredger. The first real dredger of this type is scheduled to precisely be available at the moment you will read this text.

Perspective: more than 1000 flowers‘Let a thousand flowers bloom’. It is assumed that this renown line stems from ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tse, which according to the tradition lived in the 6th century BC. The sentence has been abused, but is in most cases used as a metaphor for many purposes, the best of them aimed at promotion of diversity, wealth and beauty. Let us use it in our turn as an expression of our hope that the Chinese people will succeed in developing their more than thousand ports into a mixture of these qualities. They will find IHC Merwede alongside, ready to assist them by providing high-quality dredging equipment, training and services as long as they wish.

The development continues: in order to increase quality, shorten delivery time and further improvement of the concept IHC Merwede started exclusive cooperation with Dalian Liaonan Shipyard. Further developments in the technical concept and in technical service are permanently going on in cooperation with key suppliers like Imtech and Bakker, who act as co-makers. For the near future IHC Merwede focuses on reduced life cycle cost of operation. Further increasing fuel prices and environmental restrictions require to never stop research for improved designs. To date every new IHC Merwede-designed dredger outperforms the preceding one. Technology Innovation means something to IHC Merwede!

Principal characteristics IHC 7025MP® IHC 8527MP®Length over all, spuds tilted, approx. 98,50m 116,10m

Average draught at 100% deadweight 2,40m 3,40m

Dredging depth 5,00-25,00m 5,00-27,00mInside diameter suction pipe 700mm 850mmInside diameter discharge pipe 700mm 850mmDelivery capacity under specified conditions and discharge distance of … 2,500m3/h at 4,300m3/h at 1,300m 5,000m

Power dredge network generators ---- 3x 1,717kWPower submerged pump 1,825kW 2,000kWPower onboard pump (s) 1x 1,825kW 2x 3,700kWCutter power at approx. 30 rpm 750kW 1,100kWPower auxiliary/harbour generator 1x 1,425kW 2x 368kWTotal installed power 5,575kW 13,270kW

Accommodation 12 persons 21 persons

9 An IHC 7025MP® showing her anchor booms for enhanced autonomy

10 Artists impression of IHC 8527MP®

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Yard number / Name specifications country

TRAILING SUCTION HOPPER DREDGER CO 1250 SHOREWAY 5,600m3 the Netherlands 1CO 1251 CRESTWAY 5,600m3 the Netherlands 1CO 1252 VOX DUBAI 31,500m3 the NetherlandsCO 1253 CAZANGA 2,400m3 AngolaCO 1254 12,000m3 the NetherlandsCO 1255 5,600m3 BelgiumCO 1256 4,200m3 South-Africa 2CO 1257 5,000m3 Belgium BN 718 12,000m3 the NetherlandsCO 1258 2,400m3 the Netherlands 3

CUTTER SUCTION AND WHEEL DREDGER 02456 Beaver1600 Mauritius02488 Beaver 5016C U.A.E.02486 Beaver 300 India02498 Beaver 1600 U.A.E. 02734 Beaver 300 India02483 Beaver 1600 Russia02485 Beaver 1200 Jordan02490 Beaver 1200 Congo02703 Beaver 1600 Nigeria02490 Beaver 1200 Congo02466 Beaver 6525C India02473 Beaver 6525C India02469 Beaver 6522C Malaysia02448 Beaver 6525C Nigeria 4,502470 Beaver 6518C South Corea 4,502476 Beaver 6525C Nigeria 4,502499 Beaver 1600 India02474 Beaver 5016C Nigeria 4,5

09.813 GANGHAI JUN 356 IHC 7025MP® China09.824 SHEN YUAN IHC 7025MP® China09.834 GANG HANG JUN 6 IHC 7025MP® wheel China09.835 GANG HANG JUN 7 IHC 7025MP® wheel China09.838 DA DI YING XIONG IHC 7025MP® China09.852 LIANG LONG IHC 7025MP® China09.853 JIAN LONG IHC 7025MP® China09.896 IHC 7025MP® China09.840 IHC 8527MP® China09.841 IHC 8527MP® China09.842 IHC 8527MP® China09.843 IHC 8527MP® China09.869 IHC 8527MP® China 09.870 IHC 8527MP® China09.873 IHC 8527MP® China09.874 IHC 8527MP® China

On order

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Yard number / Name specifications country

CSD AND WHEEL DREDGERS - CUSTOM-BUILT 02731 Beaver 7525 India 02732 13,000kW China02733 13,000kW China 02480 Beaver 7522 Malaysia02482 16,500kW Saudi Arabia02730 11,787kW Panama CO 1261 24,000kW the Netherlands

BOOSTER STATION 02724 Booster Malaysia02496 Booster Nigeria02497 Booster Nigeria02495 Booster Nigera02489 Booster India02705 Booster India WORKBOATS 11029 DMC 1200 Nigeria11031 DMC 1400 Nigeria11033 DMC 1000 Nigeria

SPLIT HOPPER BARGE 09.891 2,800m3 splithopper barge the Netherlands09.892 2,800m3 splithopper barge the Netherlands09.893 2,800m3 splithopper barge the Netherlands09.894 2,800m3 splithopper barge the Netherlands

On order

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4, 5 IHC Beaver Dredgers in Sliedrecht


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Recently deliveredCUTTER SUCTION DREDGER AND WHEEL DREDGERYard number / name specifications country

02455 Beaver1600 Nigeria02484 Beaver5016C Nigeria02446 Beaver1200 Nigeria02454 Beaver1200 Nigera1,202457 Beaver1600 Nigeria1,202549 Beaver6520 India02483 Beaver600 Russia09.809LILONG IHC7025MP®wheel China09.810 GANGHAIJUN316 IHC7025MP® China09.811 GANGHAIJUN326 IHC7025MP® China309.812 GANGHAIJUN336 IHC7025MP® China09.814 ZHONGGUOSHUIDI IHC7025MP® China4 WORKBOATS 11033 DMC1000 Nigeria

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42 IHCMerwede|PortsandDredging|Autumn2008 43 IHCMerwede|PortsandDredging|Autumn2008

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