IHC Merwede is pleased to announce that it has recently secured orders for advanced vessels and equipment in its core markets of dredging and offshore to the value of €200million.
The latest agreements confirmed by IHC Merwede include: a new pipelaying vessel for Subsea 7; a trailing suction hopper dredger for Weeks Marine Inc. (USA); an environmentally friendly deepwater dredger for Zheijang Dredging (China); and a 5,000-tonne capacity carousel-lay system for Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. These orders further reinforce the group’s belief that there will be continued demand for its innovative vessels, advanced equipment and life-cycle support in the future.
IHC Merwede’s assignment with Subsea 7 is for the design, engineering and construction of a new advanced pipelaying vessel, which will have an overall length of 146 metres, a beam of 30 metres and a Class-2 dynamic positioning system. Subsea 7 has selected IHC Merwede due to its reliability and efficiency with four previous orders. This latest vessel will be used to develop deep-sea oilfields off the coast of Brazil on behalf of Petrobras.
In the USA, IHC Merwede has been successful in securing an agreement for a trailing suction hopper dredger with a 6,540m3 capacity for Weeks Marine Inc., USA. Weeks has ordered an engineering and components package from IHC Merwede, while its partner in the USA, BAE Systems, is contracted to build the vessel with a length of 109 metres and a beam of 24 metres. This important landmark has highlighted IHC Merwede’s ongoing strategy of ternationalisation.
Furthermore, Chinese company, Zheijang Dredging, has ordered an advanced environmentally friendly deep-water dredging vessel. This innovative cutter suction dredger will be optimised to work in polluted lake and reservoir dredging projects, and is unique in its class. The Beaver 4040 is the first cutter suction dredger designed for sustainable dredging to a depth of 40 metres. This eco-friendly dredger will be built at the components factory of IHC China Support in
Guangzhou.
Some of IHC Merwede’s business units have also acquired orders for specialist equipment, including a carousel-lay system for Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. The carousel features the IHC Engineering Business advanced hydraulic roller suspension system to increase reliability, reduce life-cycle costs and extend the lifetime of the system. The equipment will be manufactured, assembled and tested in IHC China Support’s components factory in Guangzou.
IHC Merwede’s President Govert Hamers says, “The recent successes in developing our business show that IHC Merwede’s reputation as the technology innovator remains intact. Our customers continue to value the reliability and efficiency of our products and services. With these orders in place, IHC Merwede is already on track to achieve its sales targets for this year.”