Vox Amalia’s first assignments outside the Netherlands

The Vox Amalia, Van Oord’s latest arrival in the fleet, has successfully completed its first dredging assignments outside the Netherlands.

In June, the energy-efficient trailing suction hopper dredger (TSHD) set course for Turkey. In Akkuyu, the vessel dredged about 250,000 cubic meters of material.

This campaign was carried out as part of the preparation works for the new nuclear power plant that will be constructed.

After that, Vox Amalia headed for the metropolis of Istanbul.

Siltation, that prevented ships from entering the port, was removed from the access channel of the brand-new 3rd Airport’s fuel port. Also in this project, the vessel dredged 550,000 cubic metres of material.

Last March, Vox Amalia started its first job in the Netherlands, reinforcing the Dutch coastline.

During this project at Den Helder, the Netherlands, the brand-new vessel reinforced the coastline by placing more than 3.5 million cubic meters of sand in a deep trench just off the coast. The contract was awarded by Rijkswaterstaat, the operational arm of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure & Water Management.

The trailing suction hopper dredger has a length of 158 metres, a width of 36 metres and a load capacity of 18,000 cubic metres.

The vessel was built in Spain on the instructions of Van Oord and is used for land reclamation, constructing or expanding port infrastructure and coastal reinforcement.

In December 2018, the vessel was christened by Her Majesty Queen Máxima in Rotterdam in the presence of 1,400 employees and guests during the celebration of Van Oord’s 150th anniversary.

Between April and October 2019, all systems and installations were gradually placed in working order.

The vessel is part of Van Oord’s new generation of trailing suction hopper dredgers with a focus on energy efficiency for the smallest possible carbon footprint.

The Vox Amalia can unload its content in four ways. It has six bottom doors for an immediate release to the sea floor. Another option is to pump the content to the shore via a floating pipe.

As a shallow draft ship it can come close to the shore and spray the sand on the beach (rainbowing).

A fourth option is to reverse the use of the drag heads and pump sand or gravel from the ship to the seabed. Using the drag heads allows a very accurate under water release, for instance to cover cables or pipelines.

With a load capacity of 18,000 cubic meters, the Vox Amalia adds to Van Oord’s fleet as one of its smaller capacity vessels.

It has been designed relatively wide (34 m), limiting the maximum draft to 10.54 meters. This makes it possible for the vessel to operate closely to the coast or other shallow waters.

Another remarkable aspect of the design is the power to move, it is possible to dredge not only sand, but also hard materials such as clay and rocky ground. 

Also notable is the strong suction pipe that can be equipped with various types of drag heads.