Van Oord christens two hybrid water-injection dredgers

Van Oord has christened its Rijn and Rhône hybrid water-injection dredgers and an unmanned survey vessel, VO:X Barentsz, during an event at the Van Oord head office jetty in Rotterdam.

The Rijn and Rhône are sister vessels of the Maas and Mersey, which were commissioned in 2021. Rijn was christened by Bartje de Boer-Veenstra, the wife of Hidde de Boer, staff manager at Van Oord. Liedy Bijsterbosch-Meijer – the wife of Herman Bijsterbosch, a captain at Van Oord for 50 years – performed the christening ceremony for the Rhône.

New generation of hybrid water-injection vessels

According to the company, the Rijn and Rhône are among the most sustainable water-injection dredgers to date and will have the ultra-low-emission vessel (ULEV) notation of the classification society. The combination of hybrid energy management systems, heat recovery systems and exhaust gas aftertreatment devices reduces energy consumption and emissions of greenhouse gases, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter (CO₂e, NO_X, PM). Technologies such as active heave compensation and a dynamic positioning system enable Van Oord to automate much of the dredging process.

First christening for new CEO

The christening ceremony also marked the farewell of Pieter van Oord, who led Van Oord as CEO for over 15 years and has been with the company for 30. It was also the inaugural official act of the company’s new CEO, Govert van Oord, the fifth-generation CEO of the family-owned company.

In July 2022, Van Oord ordered two additional water injection vessels from the Kooiman Marine Group following the successful operation of two sister ships, the Maas and the Mersey. Click here to read the full story.