Boskalis designs low-carbon dredger

Boskalis is currently in process of designing a low-carbon dredging vessel – the Cablehopper, in partnership with Rijkswaterstaat.

According to the Papendrecht based dredging giant, the vessel’s tasks will include maintenance and beach replenishment operations along the Dutch coastline.

“Innovative propulsion, a slow sailing speed and optimized suction production mean that the Cablehopper uses substantially less energy per cubic meter of material than a conventional trailing suction hopper dredger (TSHD),” said Boskalis.

The vessel’s economics, remote-controlled operation and low energy costs compensate for its relatively low production rate, thereby creating a cost-effective, low-carbon solution.

Under the same program, Boskalis is also designing a new hydrogen-fueled trailing suction hopper dredger (TSHD) – in collaboration with its partner Royal IHC.

“We are currently reviewing the production rates and business case for the design compared with alternatives such as methanol-powered vessels,” said Boskalis.

The low-carbon dredger project is part of the Dutch Coastal Challenge scheme, under which Boskalis is actively supporting Rijkswaterstaat’s objective to develop zero-emission coastal maintenance equipment by 2030.

Through the Cablehopper program, Boskalis is responding to the growing need for coastal protection and flood prevention in the Netherlands and also on a global scale.

The project – which is in partnership with Rijkswaterstaat (the executive agency of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management), Vereniging van Waterbouwers, Deltares, Delft Technical University and the EcoShape foundation – focuses on developing carbon-neutral practices and equipment as well as the reduction of ecological impacts attributed to sand extraction and replenishment.

The research forms an important part of helping Rijkswaterstaat to realize its ambition of making beach replenishment activities in the Netherlands carbon-neutral in the following years.

The work, which got underway in 2021, focuses initially on the IJmuiden-Texel section of the Netherlands’ coastline and seeks to draw on interdisciplinary partnerships to bring together relevant technological knowledge, policy and regulation, and commercial experience.

“As well as through advances in technology, we aim to reduce emissions and ecological impacts through the integration of different stages of coastal maintenance and exploring alternative maintenance strategies,” said Thomas Vijverberg, Deputy Manager Hydronamic and part of the Dutch Coastline Challenge team.

“The Netherlands focus provides a ‘living lab’ for sustainable and scalable coastal maintenance techniques which can then be expanded and deployed internationally.”

With a firm eye on the impact of climate change and potentially significant sea level rises in years to come, the emphasis is on the ability to scale up the resulting approaches to tackle more significant coastal maintenance needs in the future, both in the Netherlands and abroad.