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(Business in Cameroon) - The port authority informs that by the end of July 2019, a new dredging equipment for Douala-Bonabéri port platform will be received.

It is a Beaver 50 type suction dredger for water bodies and docks with assistance boats and its accessories, the port authority indicates. Soon, an Easy Dredge TSHD 3000 type suction dredger will be acquired for the port’s access channel. The renovation dredger Chantal Biya, which has been unusable for nine months now, will also be soon completed.

The port authority reminds that the port’s dredging was costly but now, it will be monetized via dredge materials’ recycling. The costs can thus be reduced. According to estimates, the port authority will save more than XAF5 billion (amortization excluded) per year. These funds can thus be used for 3-year dredging.

The Port Authority of Douala, Cameroon, is about to receive new dredging equipment including an IHC Beaver 50 cutter suction dredger, the company reports.

According to the port, the new dredger will arrive in Douala in the next couple of days.

IHC Beaver CSDs are reliable, fuel efficient, have low maintenance costs and are extremely productive at all dredging depths.

To date, Royal IHC has supplied more than 800 of these standard cutter suction dredgers worldwide.

The new dredger – named Vigilance – will be used to clear the port’s access channel, docks, as well as other water bodies in the area.

The officials also announced that an IHC Easydredge type suction dredger will be acquired soon for Douala-Bonabéri port.

At the end they concluded that their own grab dredger Chantal Biya, which has been unusable for quite some time, will also be soon operational as the repairs and refurbishment of the vessel’s hull are almost complete now.

The Beaver 50 suction dredger baptized vigilance which would be used to maintain water bodies and feet of wharves has arrived in Douala.” This was announced by Douala autonomous port in a release published on July 21, 2019.

According to the port’s authorites, the multifunctional dredger will be complemented with a mower deflector and various equipment that should be delivered today July 22, 2019. This will also be complemented by the “stationary hopper dredger TSHD 3000 being constructed in the workshop of Dutch company IHC, leading manufacturer of such vessels,” the authorities indicate.

The TSHD 3000 (3,000 m3) should be delivered by the end of this year, according to authorities. They added that the "Chantal Biya" dredger, which is being renovated by the port’s technicians, will be added to this watercraft.

For three years now, the port’s management has been equiping the port with dredger devices. The goal is to save on high dredging costs that have been greatly affecting the company’s financial performances. From 1997 to 2018, XAF141.85 billion was used for dredging purposes, the port reveals. This means that an average of XAF6 billion is spent yearly by the port for that purpose.