Suez Canal Authority Invests in Maintenance Fleet

The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) has ordered two custom-built 29,190kW heavy-duty rock cutter suction dredgers (CSDs) from Dutch shipbuilder Royal IHC.

Royal Ihc said that the vessels have been specifically designed in close cooperation with SCA, and will be used to maintain and improve the artificial sea-level area that connects the Mediterranean and Red Seas.

The CSDs are to be built in the Netherlands and expected to be delivered in 2020.

A standardized IHC Beaver 45 CSD will also be built by IHC at SCA’s shipyard in Egypt, with the aim of improving the local manufacturing capacity for this type of dredging equipment. Alongside the delivery of the three CSDs to SCA, an extensive IHC training programme will be provided, as well as a CSD simulator and a large package of spare parts, the shipbuilder added.

“Signing this contract is a serious step towards upgrading our fleet of dredgers, and means that we will have the world’s largest CSDs in terms of dimensions and total power. The new state-of-the-art CSDs from Royal IHC will enable SCA to participate in deepening and widening the waterway and help realize the Egyptian plan to develop local ports,” stresses SCA Chairman and Managing Director Admiral Mohab Mohamed Hussien Mameesh.