VESSEL REVIEW | Kanopus – New Russian dredger equipped for hydro-loosening under challenging soil conditions

Russian shipowner State Transport Leasing Company (STLC) has taken delivery of a new non-self-propelled dredger built by local shipyard Nefteflot.

Kanopus (Канопус) belongs to the Project Ts480M2rD/NF series of cutter suction dredgers (CSDs) designed by Russian naval architecture firm Stapel.

The vessels will be used primarily for the development of sand and gravel quarries and the maintenance of inland waterways through milling and hydro-loosening.

Because of their application of the latter method, the CSDs are more capable than most examples of traditional suction dredgers with regard to loosening compacted material for easier extraction.

The vessels can also be deployed for trenching prior to laying of subsea pipelines.

Ownership of the CSD will remain with STLC while engineering firm HydroStroyMekhanizatsiya will be responsible for her operation under lease.

Optimised for shallow waterways

Kanopus has an LOA of 79.13 metres (259.6 feet), a beam of 12.22 metres (40.09 feet), a draught of only 1.85 metres (6.07 feet), a depth of 3.5 metres (11 feet), and a displacement of 1,223 tons.

It can dredge at depths of between four and 30 metres (13 and 100 feet) and pump water at a rate of 5,000 cubic metres (180,000 cubic feet) per hour.

Power for the onboard systems will be supplied by diesel generators.

Can work with a range of soil types

The vessel's key equipment includes a sorting plant that can help separate various soil types from each other after being brought on board. For instance, when a mixture of sand and gravel is extracted, the sand and the gravel will be separated, and either type of soil will become readily available for later use.

Because the CSD has its own sorting equipment, it is possible for sorting to be done even when the vessel is deployed at work sites instead of having any collected soil sent to a dedicated shore-based facility.

Kanopus will be operated primarily in the basin of the Volga and Kama Rivers in the Republic of Tatarstan.