Mahachai starts dredger

Having built a reputation for building fishing vessels, the Thai shipbuilder Mahachai Dockyard is preparing to build two dredgers. A smaller bucket dredge for a private Thai customer will be similar to a design currently operated by the government.

A larger and more complex dredge is in the early stages of construction for an Indonesian mining company. This vessel will be a suction dredge capable of bringing ore up from the sea bottom in depths up to 30 meters. The 85 x 21metre vessel will be self propelled by a pair of Cummins KTA19 M3 engines rated for 600 HP at 1800 RPM and turning 76-inch propellers. Two more KTA19 engines rated at 500 HP will power hydraulic pumps while another two KTA19 engines will power water pumps and a single KTA19 runs an electrical generator. In addition to the main propulsion engines three electric-over-hydraulic azimuthing propellers, two aft one foreword, provide fine manoeuvring propulsion.

The dredger will be capable of carrying up to 2000 tons of concentrate and will have accommodation for 25 people. When delivered, the dredger will work off the island of Bangka in north Indonesia.