Damen Shipyards Group has completed a key construction contract comprising two electric-powered Cutter Suction Dredgers (CSD) for the Canadian oil sands industry.
With both vessels built in Canada, the contract marks the close cooperation between Damen and Aecon, Canada’s largest publicly traded infrastructure development and construction company.
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.
These tailings are a by-product of oil sands mining (oil sands being a surface substrate that is saturated with bitumen – a heavy and sticky form of crude oil). The effective management of these tailing ponds is therefore of vital importance.
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 7,200m3 per hour at 6.5 bar. This electrically-powered design receives its power supply from a 13.8kV ship-to-shore cable.
