Name-giving for cutter suction dredger Ganga takes place in India

New Vessels - July 31, 2010

The name-giviing ceremony for Ganga took place on 30 july.

On 30 July the naming ceremony for the 6,675kW cutter suction dredger Ganga took place at Kakinada Seaport Private Ltd in Kakinada port in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India.

Mrs Navatha, spouse of Mr KV Rao, Chairman cum Managing Director of Kakinada Seaport private Ltd, acted as godmother of the new dredger.

The stationary cutter dredger was named aftrr the Ganga River, and was engineered by the in-house specialists in co-operation with the Dutch company Vosta LMG.

The dredger was built at the Vintage Shipyard in Malaysia. It can reach dredging depths of between 3.2m and 22m, allowing the dredger to execute a wide range of typical capital dredging works on the Indian subcontinent.

Some relevant features of the design include:

A focus on a pumping power, which is necessary to cover large distances during land reclamtion projects.
Accommodation for 16 persons to allow the vessel to operate with full autonomy in the most remote locations.
Substantial operational flexibility owing to its flexible spud carriage, which is important to cope with sometimes heavy swell conditions in coastal areas during monsoon conditions.
The engines run on heavy fuel, which has a positive impact on operational costs.

These features allow Ganga to be one of the most competitive dredgers on the Indian dredging market, said International Seaport Dredging Limited (ISD), which is one of the leading Indian companies engaged in creating new ports and harbours, development of marine waterways and marine construction, maintenance dredging and oil and gas related services.

ISD is a joint venture company combining the dredging, marine engineering and environmental expertise of Dredging International with the civil construction expertise of Indian company Larsen & Toubro.

The company flies the Indian flag and owns an Indian fleet of dredgers, underlining its long term commitment for operations and development in the Indian market.

Along with the trailing suction hopper dredgers Pacifique and Antigoon, the cutter suction dredger Kaveri¡, and the recent addition Dhamra¡, a water injection dredger, the new cutter suction dredger fits perfectly with ISD's strategy of long-term commitment and engagement in the Indian market.

The main particulars of Ganga include a length of 72.50m, breadth of 14.00m, moulded depth of 4.30m, draught of 2.55m, and dredging depth of 3.2m to 22m. She has a suction pipe diameter of 750mm, discharge pipe diameter of 750mm, total installed power of 6,675kW, and power on cutter of 900kW.

More details about Dhamrai and other recent developments will follow in subsequent updates.