Royal Smals’ plain suction dredger

Royal Smals has a fleet of specialized dredgers. These vessels mainly operate in inland waters, and are used for maintenance and sand reclamation works. Vuyk Engineering Rotterdam assisted Royal Smals with the concept and basic design of the plain suction dredger Vrouwezand.

Sustainable dredging vessel

Vrouwezand consists of a number of pontoons which can be transported, assembled and disassembled efficiently. This makes the dredger very flexible in use, and also minimises mobilization costs. The construction of this electric suction dredger fulfils all Smals' requirements: sustainable, low-noise and with the least possible impact on nature.

Lower energy consumption

The vessel has a dredging depth of over 25 metres, making it suitable for a range of sand mining projects. The installed electrical capacity is 1.000 kW in total. Vrouwezand’s dredging system is equipped with a high efficienct submersible Permanent Magnet (PM) motor, which contributes to lower energy consumption. The vessel’s strong sustainability focus has not taken anything away from user and maintenance friendliness.