It was a happy occasion, last September 20 at Royal IHC’s shipyard in Kinderdijk, the Netherlands.
An international crowd had gathered to see the launch ceremony of Arzana, the 6000 cubic metre trailing suction hopper dredger for National Marine Dredging Company (NMDC) from Abu Dhabi.
Flowers adorned the big construction hall at the shipyard and when Arzana glided towards the open water, confetti was shot in the air. Even a chamber orchestra was present to honour the launch ceremony. During the launch, the attendees raised their arms to capture the moment with their smartphones. Moments later, the vessel was afloat.
“The keel-laying took place on March 6, 2017, and Arzana is expected to be delivered as scheduled in early 2018. This success is due to the excellent co-operation between our two companies, which stretches back many years,” Dave Vander Heyde, IHC CEO, said.
As explained, the successful cooperation has already resulted in the delivery of almost a dozen vessels. NMDC from Abu Dhabi is one of the Middle East’s marine industry leaders and has a large fleet of dredgers and support vessels.
Arzana is the first custom-built trailing suction hopper dredger (TSHD) in the Gulf area.
