Egypt's Suez Canal Authority (SCA) has signed a contract with Royal IHC for the design and construction of two custom-built, 29,190kW rock cutter suction dredgers (CSDs).
Used to maintain and improve the artificial sea-level area that connects the Mediterranean and Red Seas, the 147.4-metre-long vessels will provide a maximum dredging depth of 35 metres. They will also accommodate 73 people.
Equipped with one submerged – and two inboard – dredge pumps, the installed cutter power will be 4,800kW.
An additional CSD will be built to an IHC design at SCA's shipyard in Egypt, with the aim of improving local manufacturing.
"It is a serious step towards upgrading our fleet of dredgers, and means that we will have the world's largest CSDs in terms of dimensions and total power," said SCA Chairman and Managing Director Admiral Mohab Mohamed Hussien Mameesh.
"The new CSDs … will enable SCA to participate in deepening and widening the waterway, and help realise the Egyptian plan to develop local ports."
The CSDs will be built in the Netherlands and are expected to be delivered in 2020.
