Developing New Ideas and Technologies at DTC

The countdown has begun for the first ever Dredging Today Conference that will take place on 9 and 10 October 2017 at Amsterdam RAI Convention Center, under the theme ‘Changing Climate, Resilient Business’.

With only a few months left till the grand opening, we took the opportunity to speak with Olivier Marcus, Product Director Dredging at Damen Shipyards, one of the speakers at our Dredging Today Conference.

DT: Could you inform our readers about the topic which you plan to cover at the DTC?

Olivier Marcus, Product Director Dredging at Damen

Mr Olivier MarcusPushing the boundaries of rules and regulations within shipbuilding: does the client really benefit from this?

In our industry it is common practice to design ships to the limit of what class and regulatory bodies allow. We do this to maximize value for our clients, they get vessels that are optimized in every detail and sometimes are even pushing the boundaries of rules and regulations.

Within this talk we will show the design principles that were made in the Marine Aggregate Dredger series design that have a controversial character. These choices meant we did not fully capitalize on what is allowed, but on the other hand still maximized value for our clients.

DT: How are these relevant in today’s dredging industry?

Mr Olivier Marcus: The design process of our dredging equipment has changed substantially over the years. In the past we followed the rules and regulations on what is allowed and combine this with operational experience and rules of thumb.

Nowadays, with the use of tools such as Computational Fluid Dynamics, we can really investigate and substantiate design choices on so many levels. From choices that impact the overall design, to studying small details to really get the most out of our dredgers. Basically, with today’s tools available we’ve gone from assuming to knowing.

DT: What would you like the audience to remember from your presentation at DTC?

The company Damen initially became successful on the back of the dredging industry, by providing them with standardized workboats from stock. Fast forward to 90 years later, and we’re still heavily involved within dredging. Our goal will always be to provide efficient solutions for our clients, so they can be successful at what they do best: dredging.

Olivier Marcus will share more details on this subject during his presentation at the Dredging Today Conference, 9 & 10 October at RAI Amsterdam.