Van Oord’s new trailing suction hopper dredger, the Vox Ariane, has been launched at Keppel Offshore & Marine’s shipyard in Singapore. The vessel is the first of three new hoppers and is fitted with an LNG installation.

The hopper series will boost the mid-class section of Van Oord’s fleet of trailing suction hopper dredgers. Ambassador of the Netherlands to Singapore, Mrs Margriet Vonno, performed the launching ceremony. Watch a video of the launch below.

The Vox Ariane is being equipped with innovative and sustainable systems and will obtain a Green Passport and Clean Ship Notation. The first two vessels, Vox Ariane and Vox Apolonia, will be delivered in 2021. The third vessel will be delivered in 2022.

Waste cold and heat recovery

Van Oord’s engineering team paid special attention to the vessels’ energy efficiency. In order to use LNG in the engines, it first has to be heated up and transformed into gas again. Instead of simply wasting the cold, it is used for the air-conditioning and the freezer room, saving up to 300 kW per second.

Conversely, the heat in the cooling water and exhaust gas of the engines is used for the central heating system aboard the vessel. All three hoppers qualify as Tier III vessels (IMO emission standards) and will be fitted with dual-fuel engines. Van Oord has designed the vessels in-house in cooperation with the Dutch firm of DEKC Maritime.

Each vessel has a hopper capacity of approximately 10,500 m3 and measures 138 metres in length and 28 metres across the beam. Each vessel will be equipped with a suction pipe with submerged e-driven dredge pump, two shore discharge dredge pumps, five bottom doors, and a total installed power of 14,500 kW. They will have accommodation for 22 persons.

Dredge installations by Royal IHC

The complete dredge installations are designed by Royal IHC and include suction pipe installations with integrated submerged dredge pump unit, four additional shore discharge dredge pumps and six jet pumps in total. The installations are custom-built with state-of-the-art technology and are fully integrated into the design of the vessel.

The pumps are equipped with the latest Curve technology. The Curve impeller, with its innovative shape and blade curvature, ensures that the pumps perform with excellent suction properties over the prolonged lifetime of the product.

Also read: Patent-pending LNG storage and supply system for Van Oord dredgers