VESSEL REVIEW | Fully electric carnallite harvesting pontoon for Arab Potash Company

Dutch engineering company Royal IHC has handed over a fully electric salt harvester to Jordan-based Arab Potash Company (APC) for carnallite production at the latter's evaporation ponds at Safi in the Dead Sea area.

At the end of December 2025, the two companies completed their final performance tests at Safi.

Royal IHC said the harvester fulfilled all agreed parameters, including required carnallite production capacity in tonnes per hour, manoeuvrability, crawler track performance and uptime.

The builder announced that the machine had been officially handed over and had started full production in January 2026.

Part of a growing harvesting fleet

IHC Mining secured the contract in June 2024. The pontoon was constructed at APC's Safi site in cooperation with Royal IHC's local partner MAG.

The harvester was launched in May 2025, after which equipment installation, commissioning and testing were undertaken.

The builder said the collaboration with the operator on the development of the new harvester resulted in several improvements to the design's performance and capacity.

The harvester is the fifth Royal IHC asset delivered to APC. The earlier units include the cutter suction dredger (CSD) Mutah and the 3,557kW salt removal dredgers Jarash and Alyarmouk.

Collaboration between owner and builder leading to improvements over original design

The harvester can recover material from the carnallite ponds with an auger head and pumps it as slurry through a floating pipeline that measures 2.1 kilometres (1.3 miles).

The slurry goes directly to the onshore refineries at Safi, which comprise the Hot Leach Plant and two cold crystallisation plants.

Royal IHC said the new unit has a higher pumping capacity compared to existing harvesters.

The CSD Mutah supports the operation by dredging potash from pond corners and sides that the harvesters cannot reach and then pumping it to them.

Crawler track assembly allowing for safer operation in shallow waters

The harvester is designed to operate 24/7. It has accommodation for daytime use, an operator cabin, and a sunroof spanning its full length.

The harvester can move on four crawler tracks. Royal IHC said the suspension and steering components for its crawler tracks were designed to be reliable and easy to maintain, helping to minimise downtime.

The machine runs entirely on electric power, which the builder said gives it a smaller emissions footprint compared to conventionally powered equipment.

According to Fertilizer International, APC's solar evaporation ponds cover about 120 square kilometres (46 square miles) and include 11 carnallite ponds, which nine harvesters were serving in late 2025. The publication reported that APC procured the Royal IHC machine as its tenth harvester to increase harvesting capacity in line with the company's planned production expansion.