Electrical system integrator Alewijnse has been awarded contract for the electrical refit of the 8500m³ trailing suction hopper dredger Samuel de Champlain.
The 117-meter long dredger is to be converted from diesel-electric propulsion burning MGO to dual-fuel capability combining LNG and MGO, and this will be the first conversion of its kind to take place on a dredger in Europe.
The works will include the change of generators to dual-fuel models and the installation of onboard LNG storage facilities, and will take place at Damen Shiprepair Dunkerque. They are scheduled to start in the second half of 2018 and will take one hundred days.
Once the Samuel de Champlain arrives at Damen Shipyards Dunkerque, the Alewijnse team will begin with dismantling and removing the old equipment and cabling.
With that completed, Alewijnse will move on to upgrading the power management system (PMS) and the alarm and monitoring system (IAS), replacing the fire alarm system, and then undertaking the cabling, connection and cold wire testing of the new equipment.
In addition, the company will provide and install ATEX lighting in the gas zones, a CCTV system, a gas detection system and soft starters for the jet pumps and electric propulsion (900 and 600kW, 6.6KvA).