After years of delays, the GDWS has taken delivery of a new hopper dredger. Originally ordered from Sietas in 2016, the vessel was completed by Blohm+Voss following two bankruptcies and has now been delivered on schedule.
Good things come to those who wait – if this German proverb is to be believed, the GDWS took delivery of a good ship: a hopper dredger that was originally ordered from the Sietas shipyard in Hamburg in December 2016.
Today, around nine years later, the ship has been handed over – by the Blohm+Voss shipyard. Following the insolvency of the Sietas shipyard in 2011 and the subsequent takeover by the Russian company Pella Sietas, the order was transferred to the new owners. In 2021, the Pella Sietas shipyard also went bankrupt. As a result, the contract to build the dredger was awarded to Blohm+Voss.
The contracting authority for the newbuild named “Osteriff” is the Northern Engineering Department of the Directorate-General for Waterways and Shipping (GDWS). After this eventful history, it took over the ship from the Blohm+Voss shipyard on schedule. The special ship stationed in Wilhelmshaven is managed by the Weser-Jade-North Sea Waterways and Shipping Office.
The 133 m long hopper dredger has a volume of 7,500 m3. According to the shipyard, this gives the ship “an enormously high transport capacity”. Thanks to its Z-drive systems, the dredger can turn 360 degrees on the spot. The five main engines are equipped with a special DC power management system that enables the crew to switch on a number of engines according to consumption. According to the shipyard, this means that the ship always operates at an optimum operating point. The future area of operation includes the Elbe, Jade and Weser rivers.
“We are delighted to be handing over a ship to our customer on schedule today that meets the highest technical standards for efficient and resource-saving suction dredging work. As a team, we have successfully mastered all the challenges that come with taking on such a technically demanding project. I am grateful and proud of the outstanding performance of all our employees,” said Nils Moser, Managing Director of Blohm+Voss.
