Ecodelta Christened in Rotterdam

A new trailing suction hopper dredger (TSHD) Ecodelta, powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG),  was christened last Friday (January 11) in the Dutch port of Rotterdam.

The dredging vessel, built at the Dutch yard Barkmeijer for shipping company Van der Kamp, is a key component of the new contract entered into by Bagger & Aannemingsmaatschappij Van der Kamp and the Port of Rotterdam Authority.

In 2015, the project Ecodelta was initiated by Van der Kamp, a Zwolle-based dredging company and Conoship International.

This one of a kind dredger has two main objectives: recover valuable material from the seabed and create a greater depth of water. The vessel has a length over all of 134.10m, the breadth moulded 21.40m, a dredging draught of 7,770m, a hopper volume of 5900m3, a dredging depth below baseline of 35m and a Gross tonnage of 7560 GT. The ship has been designed by Conoship International and has been built by the Frisian shipyard Barkmeijer.

Van der Kamp has signed a contract with the Port of Rotterdam Authority, in order to perform maintenance of port of Rotterdam until 2023. The final goal is to become the most sustainable port by replacing the fuel oil with LNG for shipping. Another advantage of LNG is cost-efficiency. The LNG tank of approximately 300m3, can store an energy which can be used in a period of two weeks.

Ecodelta is already meeting the upcoming regulations for emission reduction that will come in force in 2020. The usage of LNG reduces the emissions of CO2 up to 20% and NOx up to 85%. In addition, Sulfur Oxide is reduced to zero.