On May 15, the "Junguang," Asia's largest trailing suction hopper dredger (TSHD) built by Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (ZPMC) for CCCC Guangzhou Dredging Co., Ltd., was officially commissioned and put into operation at Guangzhou Port, marking a new stage for China's high-end dredging equipment characterized by "ultra-large hopper capacity + full-process intelligence + green and low-carbon" operations.
A trailing suction hopper dredger is a marine engineering vessel integrating four functions: "dredging, transport, carrying, and reclamation." Its working principle involves a suction arm extending from the side or stern to the seabed, using high-pressure water jets to break up sediment, which is then sucked into the hopper by powerful dredge pumps.
The "Junguang" is the first and parent vessel of the 35,000 cubic meter hopper capacity class TSHDs built by ZPMC. The vessel has an overall length of 198 meters, a molded breadth of 38.5 meters, a molded depth of 18 meters, a maximum dredging depth of 120 meters, a total deadweight of 60,483 tons, and a maximum hopper capacity of 38,528 cubic meters, ranking second globally and first in Asia.
The "Junguang" is equipped with the world's first adjustable-elevation double bow jet system. Its draghead can reach a maximum depth of approximately 120 meters on the seabed, with a discharge distance exceeding 12 kilometers, significantly expanding its operational radius and improving operational efficiency by over 20%. It is equipped with China's self-developed "One-Key Dredging" and "Integrated Dredging and Navigation" intelligent control systems, achieving fully automated control of the dredging process without excessive manual intervention, ensuring both precise dredging and efficient operations.
Furthermore, the vessel has unrestricted global navigation capability and can operate stably under sea state 8 wind and wave conditions. Under normal construction conditions, it can fully load its hopper in 90 minutes, with loading efficiency ranking among the world's best. The reclamation volume from a single vessel load can raise a standard football field by 5 meters. The "one driving two" compound drive system further optimizes the vessel's energy consumption, making it a more efficient, intelligent, and green "island builder." It will be widely applicable to various marine construction scenarios, including port and waterway dredging, deep-sea sand extraction, hydraulic reclamation and land creation, deep-sea mining, trench excavation and backfilling, gravel bedding, and deep-sea pipeline laying, demonstrating formidable operational capabilities.
It is understood that following its commissioning, the "Junguang" will be immediately deployed for major projects such as the Guangzhou Port 200,000-ton waterway and the Phase V project of the Nansha Port Area of Guangzhou Port.