STX wins Belgian dredger orders

The South Korean shipbuilder has won an order for two 11,800 DWT trailing suction hopper dredger and one 6,500 DWT stone dumping vessel from two affiliates of Jan De Nul Group (JDN Group).

JDN Group, headquartered in Belgium and Luxemburg, is an international dredging and maritime engineering corporation. The three newbuildings will be constructed in the company?s Busan shipyard for delivery in 2011.

The two trailing suction hopper dredgers will measure 119.1m long, 23m wide and 10.8m deep while the stone dumping vessel, which will be used in land reclamation projects, will be 115m long, 23m wide and 7m deep.

These orders represent the first of their type for STX and are part of the shipbuilder’s drive to enter the special purpose ships market. Earlier this year, STX was awarded a vessel order to be used for marine experiments worth 43 billion won from the Agency for Defence Development. STX Europe also received orders for one army helicopter carrier and three icebreaking tugs in April.