Ninth Damen dredger added to fleet
A Nigerian customer has added his 9th Damen dredger to his fleet. The cutter suction dredger, type CSD500 was chosen due to the excellent availability of Damen Field Service in Nigeria. This local presence was very practical as well due to the challenging assembly conditions.
The Damen Shipyards Group has a spares stock available in Nigeria for standard dredgers such as the CSD500. Also Damen field service engineers are continuously available locally. With the cutter suction dredger maintenance contracts are offered to keep the dredgers in tip top condition. This results in maximum uptime of the dredger, and a satisfied contractor who can do with his dredgers what they have been made for – making money by continuous dredging.
The most challenging side of this job has been the dredger assembly. It was planned at a scrap yard on a swampy side branch of a river. The local conditions were worsened by the rainy season. The locally sourced cranes of 250 and 500t were stuck in the mud more than once. When the cranes arrived on the assembly side, the ground had to be strengthened. Moreover the dredger had to be hoisted 25 m from the river bank as conditions were too swampy right next to the bank.
The Damen cutter suction dredger is a CSD500, dredging at max 14m and pumping some 4.000m3/h of mixture. The standard dredger has been fitted out with an accommodation unit. The unit includes a kitchen, a sitting area and sanitary facilities. The dredger is currently working on a land reclamation job near Warri.
The Damen Shipyards Group is delighted that the Group’s Service Hub in Nigeria is successful already.
