CMS Buys Damen Dredges for Azerbaijan

Damen Dredging Equipment has delivered two cutter dredges – a Model CSD450 and a CSD500 – to Caspian Marine Services (CMS) to work in Azerbaijan. CMS provides ship-operating services in the Caspian Sea.

CMS joined with SOCAR the Azerbaijan State oil company who owns various ports and yards in the Baku area to deepen the mooring areas along the quays of these ports which serve the oil & gas industry.

The Model CSD450 dredge was built at the Damen yard in Poland and purchased when it was near completion at the end of 2008. After trials the dredge was transported by boat on the river Volga to Baku. The immediate delivery and transport was of vital importance as the winter was about to start and ice would block the inland shipping route completely. When it arrived at Baku the dredge was assembled on quay and hoisted into the water by the crane on board a large pipe laying vessel.

The Model CSD500 was built at Damen’s Nijkerk Netherlands yard. CMS opted for the slightly larger vessel because of its higher output in solids and because it was still in production. This enabled CMS to decide build the side pontoons locally which would give employment to the local partner yards. This dredge has day and night accommodation and fresh and gray water tanks to save the Caspian Sea ecosystem. The dredge was handed over to CMS at the beginning of June and arrived on site at the beginning of July.