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New Trailing Suction Hopper Dredger “Breydel”

On Friday 16th May 2008 the naming ceremony of the 9,000 m3 capacity trailing suction hopper dredger « Breydel » took place in the port of Ostend at the Cockerill quay alongside berth 201. This new dredger shows the colours of Baggerwerken Decloedt N.V., one of the important companies of the DEME Group from Zwijndrecht.


 


Mrs. Hilde Crevits, Flemish Minister of Public Works, Energy, Environment and Nature, has kindly accepted the invitation to be the godmother of the vessel.


 


This highly innovative and technologically advanced new dredger was built by the IHC Dredgers shipyard, which belongs to the IHC Holland Merwede Group, and entails an investment of 60 Million Euro for the DEME Group. The “Breydel” is the last one of a series of seven dredgers that have been commissioned to DEME in the last four years. A new investment programme has been launched lately, involving the construction of another 11 vessels by 2011.


 


In doing so, our shareholders and the management clearly indicate their faith in the competitiveness of our Group and in the work potential ahead.


 


To DEME this ship means another significant step forward  in fleet modernisation and increased dredging efficiency. With 24 trailers ranging from a hopper capacity of 1,700 m3 through to more than 32,000 m3. DEME wants to be strong in every segment of the dredging market. The total DEME fleet count is some 80 large production vessels, supported by over 200 auxiliary vessels and launches. With all this, DEME  has been a top-ranking world-wide dredging and land reclamation contractor for a substantial number of years.


 


In the next few days “Breydel will sail to Brazil for her first important assignment in the port of Itaguai, Sepetiba Bay. According to the present planning she will subsequently be employed for the widening an deepening of the Panama Canal, a job awarded to DEME recently.


 


“Breydel” is based upon the same successful concept of her recent predecessors “Pallieter”, “Marieke” and “Reynaert”. Except for a few details she is a sister ship of the “Brabo” that was commissioned to DEME end 2007.The design philosophy that produced the “Breydel” (121.5 m long and 28 m wide) reflects the ultimate goal to achieve maximum operational flexibility when performing specialised dredging activities. The new ship is eminently equipped for both small maintenance dredging in shallow waters and maintenance and deepening of harbours and access channels, beach nourishment and land reclamation.


 


A large degree of versatility was envisaged when designing the ship, among other things through combining a relatively limited ship weight with a high loading capacity. Owing to this the ship can make a clear ecological difference from similar existing trailers.


 


The vessel is equipped with a suction tube with an internal diameter of 1,200 mm at portside, with which a maximum dredging depth of 43 m is reached. The dredged spoil can be discharged through bottom doors or pumped ashore directly through a floating pipeline or otherwise through a spraying nozzle (rainbowing).


 


“Breydel” has a total installed power of 10,890 kW and still reaches a speed fully loaded of 14.8 knots. This is thanks among other things to its relatively limited weight and its bulbous bow.


 


The “Breydel” features advanced control systems, that are a further evolution of the revolutionary one-man-operated bridge system developed by DEME. The integrated dredge-/navigation control desk enables an efficient and smooth control of both the dredging installation and the navigation of the vessel. This integrated dredge-/navigation desk comprises extensive monitoring and control equipment and devices, enabling a ‘one-man-show’. The dredging process is highly automated and provides a perfect balance with DEME’s operational wishes, classification and safety rules and technical possibilities.So far the one-man-operated bridge has given full quality proof on board the trailers “Marieke”, “Reynaert” and “Brabo”.


 


The ship will be operated by in-house trained crews and most experienced trailer specialists. The useful feedback of 150 years of dredging activity within the Group means an invaluable source of information for them to fulfil their tasks.


 


The name “Breydel” fits perfectly in the line of recent ships that DEME has put to sea, with names like “Uilenspiegel”, “Lange Wapper”, “Pallieter”, “Marieke” and “Reynaert. It is the umpteenth confirmation of the Flemish roots of one of the world’s largest dredging companies, whose ships sail the seven seas and leave enduring marks in terms of new port infrastructure, deeper fairways, new channels and waterways, large-size land reclamation and offshore-oriented dredging activities.


 


The dredging and hydraulic engineering profession is a fascinating business, the diversity of which confronts all those involved with new challenges over and over again. This fascinating trade is on the look-out for an injection of young forces, with an emphasis on young technically schooled labour in various disciplines.


The DEME-Group wishes to seize the opportunity of the name giving of the “Breydel” to call out to whoever might be interested to build their future together with us. The dredging trade is very dynamic and is in search of dynamic people willing to give the best of them to further develop the Belgian hydraulic engineering and dredging business on a world-wide basis. We can promise them a thorough and highly-specialised in-house training. Whoever is willing to fill in one of our technical vacancies will find an open door to discussion. For any further information take a look at our web site www.Deme.be and particularly the job section ‘on the Home Page.


 


Main features of the trailing suction hopper dredger “Breydel”


 


Construction year:                                            2008


Length o.a.:                                                     121.50 m                     


Length between perpendiculars                          110.00 m


Width:                                                             28 m


Dredging depth (max.):                                      43 m


Suction pipe diameter:                                      1200 mm


Hopper capacity:                                              9,000 m3


Max. speed loaded:                                          14.8 kts


Total installed power:                                        10,890 kW