Chinese yard launches two new large hopper dredgers

Chinese state-run media outlet CCTV reports that two new large trailing suction hopper dredgers (TSHDs) in a series were launched at the facilities of Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries in Jiangsu province on Tuesday, August 26.

The TSHDs have been named Tongjun and Junguang. Upon completion, each dredger will have a length of approximately 198 metres, making them among the largest vessels of their kind to be built in Asia. Each will also have a maximum dredging depth of 120 metres.

The TSHDs will now undergo installation of dredging equipment and intelligent control systems. This will then be followed by sea trials while commissioning and delivery are scheduled for the end of this year.

Once in service, TSHDs will be used in a variety of tasks such as domestic and international port and channel dredging, deep-sea sand extraction, land reclamation, deep-sea mining, trench excavation and backfilling, crushed stone bedding, and deep-sea pipeline laying.