Queen Names Boskalis TSHD Willem van Oranje
Today, Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands has named and launched the trailing suction hopper dredger Willem van Oranje. The 137m vessel is being built for Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. at the IHC Merwede shipyard in Kinderdijk, the Netherlands. The ceremony also marks Boskalis’ centennial, which is celebrated this year.
The Willem van Oranje is designed and being built by IHC Merwede, in close collaboration with Boskalis. A characteristic feature of the vessel’s design is the twin hopper concept with a combined hopper capacity of 12,000 cubic meters. This concept makes it possible to optimize the load of the ship in relation to the draught, particularly in relatively shallow waters.
Sustainability is also a major focus of the vessel design. The ballast water is cleaned before it is pumped overboard. In anticipation of increasingly stringent environmental standards, space has also been left in the funnel to install equipment for the additional cleaning of exhaust fumes.