Jan De Nul Group has won three DPC Innovation Awards: one for Dredger Design, one for Dredging Equipment and another one for Safety.
Best Dredging Design: Hopper vessels with exhaust gas treatment systems
Jan De Nul Group ordered four Trailing Suction Hopper Dredgers (TSHD) equipped with exhaust gas treatment systems in order to reduce harmful emissions to a level lower than any other vessel, including those using LNG as a fuel.
“ The deliberate choice was made not to opt for LNG. It is a fact that methane, as a greenhouse gas, has a lot more impact on global warming than the CO2 emitted when burning diesel fuel ,” said Jan De Nul in the release.
“ Furthermore, by the use of easily available fuels, unlike the limited availability of LNG, lower emission can be guaranteed, worldwide and continuously. Thanks to this innovative technique, the hoppers will correspond with the future European requirements for inland waterway vessels: a standard much more stringent than the applicable requirement ,” added the company.
Best Dredging Equipment: Sediment Transfer Unit design and construction for the transportation of contaminated sediments in Malta
To allow future efficient businesses in the port of Valetta, the polluted Marsa harbor needed redevelopment. Therefore, Jan De Nul Group designed and constructed a Sediment Transfer Unit (STU) and mobilized a TSHD, in order to transport the sediments to a treatment site overseas.
After dredging the contaminated sediments in the harbor, large objects were sieved off in the STU, before being pumped into the hopper without the addition of water.
The screened and transportable volume was limited to a minimum and the bottom doors of the vessel were sealed to avoid accidental spill during transport. The vessel discharged the material itself at a treatment site overseas.
IADC Safety Award: Transport of pipeline optimization
As winner of the annual IADC Safety Award 2017, Jan De Nul Group also received an award from DPC for its innovation of an industry-wide task. The handling and transport of dredging pipes was optimized and enhanced by means of three techniques: the use of DHATEC cradles, modular spreaders and C-pipe hooks in combination with soft slings.