Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA)’s dredging services division has embarked on a maintenance dredging campaign at the Port of Mossel Bay. Two dredgers have been deployed to work in the port to ensure it provides safe navigational channels and berthing facilities.
The 4500 cubic metre Italeni grab hopper which arrived in November will focus on the quaysides, picking up seabed material with a clam shell bucket attached to an on-board crane or hydraulic arm. The Isandlwana trailing suction hopper dredger (TSHD), which will arrive in January, will focus on the entrance channel, sand trap and the turning basin of the port.
The dredging campaign is under way because the port expects increased shipping volumes serving the offshore oil and gas exploration sector.
