Keppel delivers second LNG hopper dredger to Van Oord

Keppel Singmarine Pte Ltd shipyard in Singapore has handed over the second LNG trailing suction hopper dredger Vox Apolonia to Van Oord.

After an intensive construction period, colleagues, partners and suppliers came together yesterday (December 13) to celebrate this memorable moment.

The state-of-the-art Vox Apolonia and its two sister vessels, Vox Ariane and Vox Alexia, boost the mid-class section of Van Oord’s fleet of trailing suction hopper dredgers.

These three new LNG vessels have a significantly lower carbon footprint than conventional trailing suction hopper dredgers and fit in with Van Oord’s aim of making its fleet more economical and sustainable.

It is precisely for this reason that the three vessels were recently presented with the Dutch Maritime KVNR Shipping Award 2022.

“We are pleased to deliver the second of three dual-fuel dredgers to Van Oord. LNG plays an important role in the energy transition. We are proud to be able to contribute to the decarbonisation of Van Oord’s fleet,” said Tan Leong Peng, Managing Director New Energy/Business, Keppel Offshore and Marine.

“The delivery of the Vox Apolonia is once again an important milestone in achieving our ambitions to lower our impact on climate change and be carbon neutral by 2050. I am pleased that we can celebrate this moment with all those who contributed to the construction of the vessel in Singapore,” stated Maarten Sanders, New Building Manager, Van Oord.

The Vox Apolonia will now be prepared to sail to the Netherlands, where it will perform dredging trials. Christening of the vessel is planned in March 2023 in Rotterdam. The Vox Ariane was christened in June 2022 and has already been successfully deployed on several projects. Triplet sister vessel Vox Alexia is still under construction in Singapore.