China’s mega dredger joins ranks of the world’s largest after passing sea trials
The Tongjun is the first Chinese-designed super dredging vessel to successfully complete its five-day testing
With a hopper capacity of more than 38,000 cubic metres (1.3 million cubic feet) and twin 9,000 kilowatt mud pumps, the Tongjun and its sister ship Junguang were launched in August, from shipyards in the northern city of Tianjin and Guangzhou in the country’s south, respectively.
Developer China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) has not announced a testing plan for Junguang, which has the same capacity and similar design as the Tongjun at 198 metres (650 feet) long, with a beam of 38.5 metres and a depth of 18 metres.
Both dredgers were designed to extract materials from a maximum depth of 120 metres, with their improved suction making it possible to fill the large hoppers within 90 minutes, Xinhua reported.