en.Wedoany.com Reported - Vietnam's Halong Shipbuilding held a steel cutting ceremony for a new trailing suction hopper dredger (TSHD) at its shipyard in Ha Long City, Quang Ninh Province, on July 1, 2026, marking the official start of construction. The vessel is based on the TSHD 1000 design from the Netherlands' Damen Shipyards Group, with the owner being UK Dredging (UKD). Representatives from France's Bureau Veritas (BV) attended the ceremony, confirming the close cooperation among all parties in this project.
The owner, UK Dredging (UKD), was established in 1996 and is a subsidiary of Associated British Ports (ABP), the UK's largest port operator, responsible for dredging operations. Headquartered in Cardiff, Wales, with an operational office in Hull, UKD operates the largest fleet of owned dredgers in the UK, providing critical dredging maintenance services for ports and waterways in the UK and continental Europe. The builder, Halong Shipbuilding, is one of Vietnam's leading shipbuilding enterprises, capable of constructing vessels up to 70,000 tons, with annual revenues exceeding 10 trillion Vietnamese Dong and employing approximately 2,400 workers. The designer, Damen Shipyards Group, was founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Gorinchem, the Netherlands. This family-owned business, with nearly a century of history, operates 35 shipyards across 20 countries, employs over 12,500 people, and focuses on niche markets such as tugs, dredgers, and offshore engineering vessels. The classification society, Bureau Veritas, was founded in 1828 and is headquartered in Paris, France. It is one of the founding members of the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS).
The new vessel is based on the standard Damen TSHD 1000 design and has been customized to meet UKD's specific operational requirements. The ship is approximately 60 meters long, with a maximum dredging depth of 20 meters and a hopper capacity of 900 to 1,000 cubic meters. It will be equipped with a diesel-electric hybrid propulsion system, integrated energy storage devices, and a Damen after-treatment Ultra-Low Emission Vehicle (ULEV) compliant exhaust system, including Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) and Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF), to meet the latest environmental standards for ships. Additionally, an electric grab crane will be installed at the bow.
Upon completion, the vessel is expected to be delivered in 2028 and will primarily be used for waterway maintenance at ports under Associated British Ports (ABP) in the UK, ensuring navigable depths and safe vessel passage. The start of construction further solidifies the long-term cooperation between Damen, Halong Shipbuilding, and UKD, while also adding another order for Vietnam's shipbuilding industry in the international high-end dredger market.
