Malaysian Marina Opts for Cost-Effective Dredge Option

Danga Bay Marina, a modern full-service 150-berth facility located in Johor Bahru on the south coast of Malaysia, has purchased a Versi-Dredge 7012 HP dredger from IMS Dredge for use in the marina and surrounding estuary waters. The marina, which opened in 2009, is a part of a waterfront development that is still up for expansion.

For use within the marina basin and for nearby river deepening and peripheral mangrove swamp maintenance, the dredger has many key features and benefits.“ It can dig down to 9.1m depths and maintains one-truck transportability. No other dredge in its class can do this”, says IMS global sales director, Ryan Horton“ The most important advantage of our dredge in marinas, however, is that it requires no cable rigging to dredge. Most dredges uses underwater anchors or anchors on pilings to move themselves backwards and forwards to side to side. The Versi-Dredge can maneuver in between pilings and dredge marina berths very fast without using a push boat. This also saves on fuel,” he continues.

Movement is accomplished by means of the patented Starwheel Drive systems, two wheels – one on each side of the dredger – that propel it forwards, backwards and sideways. The wheels can be used on the surface when dredging in sludgy bottom materials or on the bottom for positive traction in heavy mud and sand.

The 7012 HP at Danga Bay can pump silt through a 305mm discharge line up to 1km away and, using its Broadcaster discharge attachment, can quickly create a deep channel. Furthermore, the cutter head is horizontal so as to create a smooth, even bottom profile with no ridges that collect silt.

Najib Ariffin, who represents IMS Dredges in Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei, delivered the unit – as a first for Johor state – but confirms that the unit has provenance in the region. “It has been used in similar situations in other parts of Malaysia such as in Penang Port’s Tanjung Marina since around 2006,” he says.

The dredger is being operated by the Danga Bay Marina developers/owners. They have in-house operating personnel, trained up by IMS upon purchase of the unit, and have thus adopted an approach that is finding favor throughout the market. “There is a trend in the marina industry to invest in a dredge system instead of hiring a contractor,” Ryan Horton confirms.

“Buying a dredge and using it one time may actually be less expensive than hiring a contractor once and having zero equity in the equipment. We see people hire contractor two or three times before they realize they are throwing money away. If the marina has a perpetual silt problem where a channel needs to be cleaned every year or every other year, buying a dredge is the only smart thing to do. The transportability of the Versi-Dredge and the affordability of a complete system landed anywhere in the world makes it a smart choice,” he adds.

Reprinted from: Marina World Magazine