New IHC Beaver Cutter Suction Dredger series unveiled

IHC Merwede is very proud to announce the launch of a brand new series IHC Beaver® Cutter Suction Dredgers. And IHC Merwede has chosen Europort 2009 to unveil one of the new ships in the series, the IHC Beaver® 50.

IHC Beaver® 50 – Innovation and sustainability are keywords
Govert Hamers, President of IHC Merwede, said: “Innovative technology is used to make the new Beaver® dredgers more environmentally friendly, safer and more efficient. This means that the Beaver® Cutter Suction Dredger combines lower operating costs and high productivity with reliability and ease of operation. IHC Merwede is confident that the dredger series offers the lowest cost per cubic meter in comparison with any other cutter suction dredger on the market.”

Special attention has been paid to environmental factors in the development of the new Beaver® range. For the IHC Beaver® 50, efficient use of power is ensured by applying a single, low-emission, diesel engine for all energy consumers on board, such as the dredge pump, hydraulic installation and 230V board net. In addition, the IHC Beaver® 50 has grease-free bearings for all the wire sheaves on board to eliminate spillage of lubrication grease into ambient water. The diesel engine is also placed on vibration dampers to reduce noise levels.

Introducing the new series
The new series comprises the Beaver® 30, 40, 45, 50, 55 DDSP and 65 DDSP. The type number indicates the internal discharge pipe diameter in centimetres. “DDSP” indicates the use of a (diesel) directly driven submerged pump that is standard for the larger dredger models.
IHC Merwede’s Beaver® range of demountable cutter suction dredgers was originally introduced in 1963 and these dredgers have built up a solid reputation over the years. To date, IHC Merwede has supplied more than 800 of these standardised cutter suction dredgers worldwide.

IHC Life Cycle Support
Hamers points out that IHC Merwede also prides itself on its after-sales and customer support services, offering its unique IHC Life Cycle Support service. With this service, IHC Merwede offers customers optimal operational support to reduce their total cost of ownership. Customers worldwide are assisted with tailor-made operational support from the various regional IHC organisations. IHC Life Cycle Support is essentially a total support package and can include anything from supplying spare parts, IHC Planned Maintenance Systems as long as the dredging equipment is in use, to training of operational staff. IHC Life Cycle Support saves time, and crucially prevents loss of downtime and therefore loss of money.

Europort Stand 1.312
We would very much like to welcome visitors to our Europort Stand 1.312. Visitors will be able to find out more about the IHC Condition Monitoring programme. This is part of IHC Life Cycle Support and enables customers to prevent downtime and to achieve optimal use of existing equipment.
IHC Merwede will have an actual 3,000 kg dredger gearbox on display. Our team can show visitors how IHC Condition Monitoring allows customers to determine the most optimal time for maintenance, without having to dismantle the gearbox. “This is just one example of how we look to save time and money for our customers,” said Hamers.

Launch of ‘IHC Offshore Wind’
IHC Merwede is increasingly focused on renewable energy and, in a bid to contribute to the challenges in the offshore wind industry the company has recently set up a new department, ’IHC Offshore Wind’. A number of IHC Merwede companies already have an extensive track record in this sector such as IHC Hydrohammer, IHC Handling Systems, IHC Offshore Systems, IHC Hytop, Vuyk Engineering Rotterdam, IHC Engineering Business and IHC Merwede Offshore & Marine.All of the in-house expertise and capabilities concerning offshore wind are now coordinated within ‘IHC Offshore Wind’. The team has been given the job of developing and delivering equipment and/or vessels and to provide engineering services for our customers in the entire supply chain involved in the installation, operation and maintenance of offshore wind parks.
In close cooperation with all the IHC Merwede companies and the offshore wind industry, the team is pressing on with the research of new innovative technology for integrated solutions.

IHC Merwede therefore announced recently that it is one of the participants in a large-scale Dutch innovation project for the development of offshore wind energy. The Far and Large Offshore Wind programme (FLOW) is an ambitious R&D plan, which involves a demonstration wind farm 75km off the Dutch coast, located in a 35m water depth.
Currently, there are no wind farms in existence located at such a distance from the coast in deeper water. The FLOW programme means that Dutch companies will be pioneers in the international market for offshore wind energy. The FLOW consortium comprises: RWE, Eneco, TenneT, Ballast Nedam, Van Oord, IHC Merwede, 2-B Energy, XEMC Darwind, ECN and TU Delft.

In addition, the IHC Merwede stand will have diverse offshore vessels models such as the Seven Seas and the Oleg Strashnov. Models of our different dredgers – the Trailing Suction Hopper Dredgers, Vox Máxima and the Beagle and the Cutter Suction Dredgers, Beaver® 50 and Wheel Dredger – will also be on display.