Van Oord has deployed a UK-based water-injection dredger to the north Kent coast to deepen the vessel navigation pathway in a harbour used by yachts and fishing vessels
Under a contract with Canterbury City Council, Van Oord has again dredged the navigation pathway for vessels at a small harbour on the north Kent coast of southeast England.
Riviera watched 2015-built, Dutch flagged Borr using its water-injection unit to dredge a sailable route into the harbour at Herne Bay, which is constantly being silted up in the Thames estuary.
This 18.7-m vessel has a beam of 5.3 m, a depth of 1.8 m, a draught of 1.2 m, a dismountable water-injection dredger with a jet pump rated to 260 kW and two 89-kW engines and total installed power of 460 kW.
The navigation channel is between the pier and Neptune arm, a concrete and rock structure that is part of the sea defences at Herne Bay. It needs to be maintained every few years for vessels, including lifeboats and fishing boats, to access the harbour.
According to automatic identification system data, Borr has been operating in other ports in Kent, including Sheerness, Whitstable and Gillingham.
Water injection dredging (WID) is an efficient and environmentally friendly way of maintaining the depth of navigation channels in harbours and rivers. Sea water is pumped at high pressure to remove sediment to deepen navigation channels.
Van Oord has invested in its fleet of WID vessels with two added in the past year,Rijn and Rhône, with batteries on board for hybrid propulsion and energy-management systems. These 2024-built vessels also have heat recovery systems and exhaust gas aftertreatment devices.
