They arrived on the 14th and 15th October and began operations on the 16th October. It is Francesco de Giorgio and Henri Pitot, the two dredgers belonging to Jan de Nul Dredging Ltd. that will perform maintenance dredging along the access channels.
The dredging will focus on the Matola, Katembe, Polana, Xefina and Northern Channels and will remove about 1.5 million cubic meters. Drafts will also be maintained for quays at the Maputo and Matola terminals.
Francesco Di Giorgio is a hopper suction dredger for smooth and semi-hard ground operations to a maximum depth of 28 meters. Its mud and sand storage capacity is 4,400 m3. Henri Pitot is a water injection dredger for deep leveling operations on soft and semi-hard ground to a maximum depth of 27 meters.
The two dredgers will operate simultaneously, ie the water injection dredger will follow the suction dredger. The vessels have already started the operation on the Polana channel and will then operate on the Matola, Katembe, Xefina and North channels, followed by intervention on the quays.
To take advantage of the presence of dredgers in the port access channel maintenance project, MPDC will use them in the rehabilitation project for quays 6, 7, 8 and 9. Note that that this rehabilitation project includes in-depth dredging work from the current -12m to -16m (quays 6, 7, 8) and -15 meters (quays 9), respectively. The work is expected to be completed in 10 days to remove about 106,000 cubic meters of sediment.
As with the deepening dredging two years ago, there will be permanent coordination between the dredger and the crew involved and the port operations to ensure the channel’s transitability. Dredging will not cause any disturbance in the normal course of port operations.
As has been a hallmark in the major works carried out at the Port of Maputo, the training component for young trainees will be included in the project. Maintenance dredging will open the opportunity for engineering, marine and other students to follow all aspects of the operation and thereby enrich their curricula.
