DEME Group’s 13,700 m3 trailing suction hopper dredger ‘Uilenspiegel’ recently underwent a drydocking in Setubal, Portugal.
According to DEME, the dredger is back in peak condition. Right after dry-docking, she immediately headed off to the River Elbe to perform maintenance dredging along the fairway to the North Sea.
Hamburg, as one of the world’s largest ports, is dependent on the fairway along the river Elbe from its river mouth at sea 116 km upstream to the entrance of the harbour of Hamburg.
To keep the new generation of large container vessels entering the harbour, maintenance dredging along the fairway is essential.
Prior to the repairs, the ‘Uilenspiegel’ finalised the deepening of the access channel to the Port of Setubal in Portugal.
TSHD ‘Uilenspiegel’ was one of three hoppers deployed on the project. During the works, these hopper dredgers removed approximately 3.5 million m3 of dredged material from the access channel.