Keel laying of the VOX DUBAI (Van Oord), the largest trailing suction hopper dredger ever built in the Netherlands 30 May 2008 at IHC Dredgers in Kinderdijk

 

The keel laying ceremony for the TSHD VOX DUBAI took place on Friday 30 May 2008 at 11.30 a.m. at the Kinderdijk yard of IHC Dredgers, a subsidiary of the IHC Merwede group. Mrs. Wilma Sangers conducted the formal part of the ceremony in the presence of the management and a number of members of staff from both IHC Merwede and the client, Van Oord.
This means that, after preparations lasting more than a year, the keel has been laid for the largest TSHD ever to be built in the Netherlands. During that time, the technical details of the project were worked out, and the first sections were built at VSH in Heusden, which is also a part of the IHC Merwede group. These sections were moved in large blocks to Kinderdijk on a pontoon, from which they were moved up the slipway upon arrival. The 3 sections (midship to intermediate deck) taken together are 100 metres long and 31 metres wide, with a depth of 9.6 metres. That is larger than a 2,500 m³ hopper dredger!
The detail engineering started in late 2007 to allow for the efficient construction of the ship. The ship will be launched in the spring of 2009.

Keel laying
Laying the keel of a ship can be compared with laying the first stone of a building. It is the starting signal for the construction of the ship and it is an old tradition from the age of sail. In those days, a coin was placed for good luck at the bottom of the shaft containing the mainmast. A coin was also used during the keel laying of the VOX DUBAI. During the launch, the coin was released, and handed over to the client to wish the ship a good future.In 1990, the largest trailing suction hopper dredger had a hopper capacity of 12,000 m³; up-scaling has now passed through a number of stages, resulting in 'jumbo' trailing suction hopper dredgers with capacities of 17,000 - 24,000 m³. Twelve of these ships are now in operation around the globe. This is not the end of the up-scaling process, despite the limitations associated with the large dimensions and draught. Up-scaling involves both the construction of even larger vessels ('mega-vessels') and the extension of existing ships.  

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Overall length	203 metres
Beam	31 metres
Depth	17.50 metres
Dredging draught	14.50 metres
Dredging depth	70 metres
Hopper capacity	± 32,000m³
Total installed power	31,165kW
Crew	46 people

High resolution photographs Right click link below and select "Save target as...": - Photo 1 - Photo 2 - Photo 3 - Photo 4 - Photo 5 - Photo 6 - Photo 7 - Photo 8 - Photo 9

  Note for the editor, not for publication

For more information on IHC Merwede please contact:

IHC Merwede B.V. Mrs. R. van Krimpen-Baudesson
T	+31 184 41 15 55
E	pr@spam-preventionihcmerwede.com

  30 May 2008

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