Damen Shipyards Group has introduced a Water Injection Dredger (WID), courtesy of a plug & play system aboard a Damen Multi Cat.
“Damen invented the Multi Cat as the ideal dredge support vessel – what I like to think of as floating work bench – for Cutter Suction Dredgers (CSD). This is a logical step forward for a platform that has dredging in its DNA,” said Damen Product Director Dredging, Olivier Marcus.
The Multi Cat is typically used to assist CSDs on dredging projects, carrying out tasks such as anchor shifting and cutter teeth replacement.
Damen realized that, with the addition of dredging components, the Multi Cat might actually be able to take on dredging functionality in a manner that proves the rule ‘the whole is greater than the sum of its parts’.
In the words of Mr Marcus: “ This is not just the equipment, this is one plus one equals three.”
This is not the first time the Multi Cat has demonstrated such versatility. In the past Damen has already fitted DOP pumps or a plough on the stern A-frame to carry out sand mining and maintenance dredging activities.
The Multi Cat WID dredger will take a different approach. By injecting the silt with high volume, but low pressure water, the accumulated soil will become a density flow and by utilizing the current and/ or gradient the silt will be removed from ports and waterways including rivers and channels, offering a cost effective, sustainable approach to dredging.
The dredger will be fitted with a Damen Dredge Pump – a wear resistant piece of equipment that is built to just keep going in the toughest of working environments.
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