Twin Damen cutter suction dredgers for Canadian oil sands

Damen Shipyards Group has announced the completion of a key construction contract, comprising two electric-powered cutter suction dredgers (CSD) for the Canadian oil sands industry. Both vessels were built in Canada.

Two newly-built Damen CSDs have commenced operations in Northern Alberta, Canada. The two 40.64m long vessels perform dredging duties in oil sands tailings ponds.

The considerable size of the project required two of Damen’s largest cutter suction dredgers: the Damen ECSD650. This vessel is capable of production levels of 7200 m3/hr at 6.5 bar.

Damen designed the overall vessel and provided of all the major components including motors, steel package and electric and hydraulic installations.

The Damen team also provided technical assistance during the building, outfitting and commissioning phases as well as on-site training of operations team.

Due to the location of the Aecon yard, approximately 5000 km away from the oil production site, efficient transportation of the two vessels was vital. Damen’s solution was modular construction – facilitating transportation by truck as well as safe and fast assembly on arrival. The modularity of the design will also make any future relocations a more straightforward procedure.

The vessels, Igor Mazursky and Fitzgerald, can dredge to a maximum depth of 10 m. Their main duty is to pump water back to the process plant and to maintain the capacity of the tailings ponds within their design specifications. Dredge production is flexible as the dredgers can be either controlled from the vessel itself or via remote control from the shore.

The dredging muscle comes from Damen’s BP6560MD dredge pump that features a variable-frequency drive with a 2200 kW electric motor.

“We are extremely proud to be active in Canada,” commented Damen Manager - North America, Jan van Hogerwou. “This important dredger contract not only represents a successful construction partnership with Aecon, but also a continuance of our long term strategy in this part of the world.”

Edited from press release by Angharad Lock

Read the article online at: https://www.oilfieldtechnology.com/exploration/02022016/damen-csd-for-canadian-oil-sands-2365/