VESSEL REVIEW | Tobol – Russian waterway authority's newest inland dredger to be deployed in Siberia

Russia’s inland waterway transport authority Rechvodput recently took delivery of a new non-self-propelled dredger built by local company Ship Repair and Shipbuilding Corporation. Tobol (Тобол) is the fifth vessel under the Project 4395 series of dredgers that were designed by naval architecture firm Stapel to perform maintenance of Russia’s inland waterways.

The dredger has an LOA of 65.56 metres (215.1 feet), a beam of 10.89 metres (35.73 feet), a maximum draught of two metres (6.6 feet), a depth of 10.5 metres (34.4 feet), a displacement of 1,005 tonnes, a maximum endurance of 20 days, and a crew complement of 28. The vessel has a maximum dredging depth of 10 metres while the dredge pump can extract up to 700 cubic metres (250 cubic feet) of sediment per hour.

The dredger will be used for the extraction of sandy, silty and sand-gravel soils using the scow-refuller method and dredging in navigable waterways and alluvial dams. Dredged soil will be discharged to waiting barges as well as through a floating slurry pipeline up to 500 metres (1,600 feet) long and an onshore slurry pipeline up to 100 metres (330 feet) long.

Ample accommodation and deck equipment

The dredging equipment includes a hydraulically-driven cutter for loosening up soil before extraction. On the main deck are four winches, mounted two each on port and starboard, for pulling barges.

The hull of the dredger contains an engine room, ballast tanks, a fuel tank, eight double-berth crew cabins, a service area, and sanitary spaces. On the main deck amidships are two double-berth and two single-berth cabins, a service area, a lounge, and a mess. The upper deck has six single-berth cabins; above this area is the control cab where a single crewmember operates the dredging equipment using consoles and joysticks.

The dredge pump has a dedicated 400kW motor. Two 1,000kW diesel generators will provide electrical power for the onboard systems during dredging operations. When the dredger is berthed, a 100kW harbour generator will be used instead.

The deck equipment includes a bow-mounted crane with a lifting capacity of eight tonnes and an upper deck crane that can lift two tonnes. Also installed is an incinerator that will be used for burning sludge, food, and household waste, thus helping reduce pollution in the dredger’s area of operations.

Design work on Tobol was done in compliance with Russian River Register ice 10 requirements. The dredger will be based in the town of Tobolsk and operated in the Ob and Irtysh Rivers in Siberia.