Picture of the day: world’s 1st LNG-powered dredger on duty

The 3,500-cbm trailing suction hopper dredger Minerva, owned by Belgian dredging specialist DEME, is currently executing sand suppletion works at the Belgian coast in Nieuwpoort.

These shoreline reinforcement works are combined with maintenance dredging works in the access channel to the Port of Ostend, DEME said in a statement through its social media channels.

This brand new vessel is the first dredger in the world equipped with dual fuel engines and capable of operating on liquefied natural gas (LNG), according to DEME.

Minerva was built at Royal IHC’s shipyard in the Netherlands, just as DEME’s second LNG-powered trailing suction hopper dredger Scheldt River.

Both vessels have been chartered by Belgian transmission system operator Elia through a contract signed with DEME’s unit, Dredging International.