Jan De Nul Fleet Dredges 14 Million CY in 10 Weeks
Trailing suction hopper dredges Francesco di Giorgio and Al-Idrisi.
Trailing suction hopper dredge Al-Idrisi in the front (far left) with cutter suction dredge Niccolò Machiavelli along with split hopper barge Tiger.
The Russian branch of Jan De Nul N.V. sent 18 vessels to dredge 10 million cubic meters (14 million cubic yards) for the future liquefied natural gas (LNG) Port of Sabetta located on the Yamal Peninsula in Northern Russia.
The area has a short navigation period because of inclement weather around 10 weeks and the fleet dredged the access channel and port basin of the new harbor during that time. The area will house LNG modules for building the future LNG plant. The working harbor would eventually become part of the future LNG port.
When the ice cleared along the northern sea route Jan De Nul Group dredges left the Port of Murmansk for Sabetta on August 1. The fleet included eight dredges six barges and other equipment: cutter suction dredge Niccolo Machiavelli (total installed diesel power 23.52 megawatts – MW) and Leonardo da Vinci (total installed diesel power 20.26 MW); trailing suction hopper dredges Bartolomeu Dias (hopper capacity 14000 cubic meters or 18312 cubic yards) Al Idrisi (hopper capacity 7500 cubic meters or 9810 cubic yards) Francesco di Giorgio (hopper capacity 4400 cubic meters or 5755 cubic yards) Amerigo Vespucci (hopper capacity 3500 cubic meters or 4578 cubic yards) Pinta (hopper capacity 3400 cubic meters or 4447 cubic yards) De Bougainville (hopper capacity 3700 cubic meters or 4839 cubic yards); split hopper barges Boussole L’Aigle Tiger Astrolabe and Le Guerrier (all hopper capacity 3700 cubic meters); and multicats a tug launch and an excavation pontoon.
Jan De Nul said the project required intense coordination to operate the large number of dredges in a limited area with other marine traffic. The 18 vessels and nearly 300 crewmembers in the remote location performed efficiently under a wellprepared logistical setup. During crew changes 200 people were transported to and from their vessels in a few days. A supply boat sailed back and forth between the port of Salekhard and Sabetta.
With the project complete all the vessels left Sabetta October 8 just ahead of the oncoming ice.
The contract with Russian contractor USK MOST came under guidance from a state order to perform dredging for the new Port of Sabetta. More dredging will take place annually from 2014 to 2018 removing up to an additional 70 million cubic meters (about 91.5 million cubic yards).
The port project is part of the larger Yamal LNG project building an LNG plant with the South Tambey field a seaport and an international airport in the Sabetta village.
