Asia’s largest dredging vessel to start trial voyage

Asia’s largest and most advanced dredging vessel Tian Kun Hao is about to set off on its trial voyage.

The tremendous “island-making” ship was designed by China’s Tianjin Dredging Co. Ltd., associated with China Communication Construction Co. Ltd. (CCCC) and built by Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industry Co. Ltd.

With 6,600-kilowatt dredging equipment, the vessel can mince and relocate around 6,000 cubic meters of hard rocks, silt, and mixture from the seabed within one hour. The vessel's working method will minimize damage to the surrounding sea environment and thus limit distress to marine animals in the area.

Four types of drifts are equipped on board to cope with different geological conditions, enabling the vessel to excavate rocks with a confined compression resistance strength within 50 MPa.

Tian Kun Hao is fully reliant on electricity, with a dual positioning system and unlimited global navigation. It can be used to dredge channels and make islands in both coastal and deep-sea regions.