Thursday, April 10, 2008

Caterpillar powers China-built IHC Merwede dredgers

Caterpillar Marine Asia Pacific and WesTrac China, the Caterpillar dealer for North and Northeast China, have established a preferred supplier status in powering China-built IHC Merwede dredgers.

Since cooperating on the dredger project 'BeiYa 1' in 2005, WesTrac China and IHC Merwede, the global leader, have collaborated on 23 newbuildings for the Chinese dredging market. These dredgers belong to three different models and utilize six different types of Caterpillar engines, with a total 81 units involved. Buoyant seaborne trade has led to global record levels in dredging and port construction. IHC Merwede has extensive experience in this segment having built thousands of dredgers. The company serves half the world market today. In 2004, IHC Merwede developed a concept for an advanced cutter suction dredger with a capacity of about 2,300 cubic metres per hour for customers in China, which eventually resulted in the delivery of 'BeiYa 1' from Liaonan Shipyard in January 2006. Three Cat 3500 series marine engines provide ample power for high-performance dredging in the Bohai Sea on behalf of Quingdao North Asia Construction Engineering. 'BeiYa 1' established the IHC 7025MP cutter suction dredger design, which is characterized by a 70 centimeter suction diameter, up to 25 metres of dredging depth and mono pontoon execution. Following the success of the IHC 7025MP series, IHC developed the more powerful 8527MP cutter suction dredger. This design is based on a suction diameter of 85 centimetres and can cope with dredging depths up to 27 metres. WesTrac has already signed repeat contracts to power six additional IHC 8527MP dredgers.

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