Damen Shipyards congratulates the Mexican Navy for the flagging and entering into service of their two new dredgers, among which is the Damen Cutter Suction Dredger (CSD) 650 ARM Laguna Morelos (ADR-19).
The dredger will undertake various dredging, depth maintenance and land reclamation projects in the Gulf of Mexico; the first project being the dredging of the River Grijalba, assigned to the Mexican Navy by the Mexican Federal Government.
“This is the first Dutch dredger delivered to Mexico in years and we are very proud to be part of that by delivering it to our very valued customer Secretaría de Marina – Armada de México, especially because we know that this dredger will contribute to the growth of the southeastern region of Mexico,” says Horacio Delgado, Damen commercial manager for Mexico.
Damen’s philosophy of standardised shipbuilding of series vessels for stock, meant that the dredger was available when the Mexican Navy placed their order last year. The dredger has been shipped to Mexico as deck cargo, thanks to its modular, dismountable nature, which makes for easy transportation anywhere in the world, by road, rail or sea. In addition to the dredger itself, Damen is also contracted by the navy to provide additional services including spare parts, consultancy support, simulator and technical assistance.
The Damen CSD650 is so called due to its 650mm pipe diameter. The stationary dredger is capable of pumping some 7,000 m3/h of mixture to depths of up to -18 meters. The dredge pump is located in a separate pump room, isolating the engine, hydraulic and electric installations from the mixture piping. The CSD650 is the twelfth vessel that Damen has delivered to the Mexican Navy.
Previous deliveries include everything from patrol vessels to logistic support ships. The delivery of the ARM Reformador (POLA-101 / SIGMA10514) to the navy is scheduled for the first quarter of 2020.