Heavy- duty sea- dredging equipment plows ahead

A large cutter- suction dredger, the Tiankun, is set to roll off the skids in Qidong, East China’s Jiangsu Province on Friday, for a marked improvement in China’s heavy- duty machinery of this kind and giving it a leading position in the world.

The 140- meter- long and 27.8- meter- wide Tiankun is capable of working at a depth of 35 meters with maximum conveyance distance of 15,000 meters, according to the China Communications Construction Co. Ltd’s ( CCCC) Tianjin Dedging Co. Ltd, which financed the vessel.

“The Tiankun was domestically- designed, reflecting advances in China’s technology and manufacture ability,” Feng Changhua from the CCCC Tianjin Dedging Co. Ltd, told the Global Times.

Feng said that the company’s Tianjing, or Sky whale, formerly the largest cutter- suction dredger in Asia used imported parts. Tianjing has been hailed as a mighty tool for islandbuilding.

The CCCC Tianjin Dedging Co. Ltd said that the Tiankun tops the list of similar boats in the world in distance of delivery and other aspects.

Its advanced systems allow the vessel to carry out automated dredging and monitoring with unmanned operations and it can carry out dredging and reclamation work at ports, in coastal waters, or for deep- sea operations.

The vessel adheres to high technical standards, with an advanced positioning system, and ways of handling navigation problems.

It is all- electric and equipped with a dual positioning system, and unlimited global navigation.

The Global Times reporter saw the main work on the hull being finished at a dockyard of the Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co. Ltd in Qidong and workers said that cuttersuction parts will be completed in the water in two to three months.

The Tiankun’s R& D work has helped change China’s dredge- building technology from “Made in China” to “Created in China,” according to the CCCC Tianjin Dedging Co. Ltd.