The 5500 m³ trailing suction hopper dredger (TSHD) Ilembe has been launched at Royal IHC’s shipyard in Kinderdijk, the Netherlands.
The dredger is being built for Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA), the national port authority of South Africa. The ceremony was performed by Ms Lunga Ngcobo, General Manager Corporate Affairs at TNPA. It will be the largest dredging vessel of its kind operating in the country.
The contract for the design, construction and delivery of the vessel was signed between TNPA and IHC in March 2014. The keel was laid on 8 January 2015 at Kinderdijk and the vessel will be delivered to its homeport at Durban in early 2016.
Other IHC Vessels
The new TSHD will join TNPA’s existing fleet of IHC-built vessels, which includes the 4200 m3 TSHD Isandlwana (delivered in 2010) and the grab hopper dredger Italeni (delivered in 2014). The new dredger will be deployed to work mainly in the international seaports of South Africa, but may also be deployed elsewhere on the continent.
School for Dredging Operators
As part of the contract with TNPA, IHC will execute a supplier development (SD) plan in order to help improve local industry in South Africa. The primary activity within the SD plan is the development of a school for dredging operators – which includes the delivery of a dredging simulator – where IHC together with TNPA’s maritime school of excellence will setup a long-standing cooperation for the training of local people.
Vessel Particulars
- Length: approx. 101.5 m
- Breadth: 22.4 m
- Depth: 7.5 m
- Draught: 6 m
- Hopper capacity at highest overflow level: 5500 m³
- Inside diameter of trailing suction pipe: 900 mm
- Dredging depth: 30m
- Total installed power: approx. 7660 kW
- Trial speed: 11.9 knots
- Complement: 26 people
