DEME Group's newbuild dredger completes sea trials

The new trailing suction hopper Meuse River from the DEME Group has finished sea trials in the North Sea and will join the fleet of the Belgian contractor's in June 2020.

The 7,950-cubic-meter Meuse River was designed by Royal IHC in the Netherlands and has the same design as the current DEME hopper Scheldt River which entered service in 2017. 

The dredgers feature many smart energy technology created by DEME and Royal IHC, such as a hybrid dredge pump drive system to reduce the impact of variations in load.

IHC designed the intelligent IHC ECO automation package for automation of the dredging process , which results in high dredging efficiency. 

In addition, fuel efficiency is achieved with two-speed propulsion and combinator mode, reducing the fuel consumption under conditions of sailing and dredging.

Maritime Business World