Jumboising Queen of the NetherlandsTrailing Suction Hopper Dredger (TSHD)

The vessel, originally built by Verolme Shipyard Heusden, belongs to the world’s largest trailing suction dredgers after lengthening. In 1999, the Dutch dredging contractor Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. took delivery of the upgraded trailing suction hopper dredger ’Queen of The Netherlands’. In close cooperation with the owners, Vuyk Engineering Rotterdam carried out a major part of the total engineering package required for the fabrication works in Thailand. The actual lengthening was executed in a dry-dock in Singapore. The enormous ship has the equipment to dredge almost any material; such as clay, silt, sand and rock.

The new section was prefabricated and fully equipped with bottom doors, hydraulic cylinders and piping in Thailand. On completion, the section was towed to a shipyard in Singapore. Before the arrival of the Queen, all prefabrication and preparations were finalized. The vessel was then brought into a dry dock and was cut into two pieces. Next the fore ship was floated out and the aft ship remained in the dry-dock. Then the new section and the fore ship were floated back sequentially. After the dock was dry again and dock blocks were settled, both sections were skidded to the right position, aligned and welded to the aft ship. In the meantime deck sections, other steel sections and additional equipment were fitted. The vessel was put back into service after a series of extensive tests.