Moz dredger due home later this year

The Mozambique dredger

Macuti is currently

undergoing a repair and refit

at Dormac’s shipyard in the

Port of Durban, and can be

expected to be back at work

in the Port of Beira soon after

it is completed later this year,

according to a Dormac source.

The Macuti is the largest

dredger in Mozambique, with

a length of 82 metres, a 16m

beam and a 2 500-cubicmetre

capacity.

In June last year, the

trailing suction hopper

dredger (TSHD), owned

by the Mozambican

Dredging Company

(Emodraga), collided with a

containership in the Port of

Beira and blocked the access

channel.

The hull of the Macuti was

badly damaged in the collision

and the hull flooded as water

poured into the vessel. It

took a team of Emodraga

and port employees, working

with the dredger’s crew, some

considerable time to refloat

the vessel and move her from

the cut-mouth. Once at a safe

berth, she was then prepared

for the sea trip to Durban.

Meantime, her channeldredging

operations were

carried out by Beira’s other

two 1 000m3 dredgers, the

Aruangua and Alcantara

Santos.

Durban-based marine

and engineering specialists

Dormac took on the contract

to refurbish the Macuti in

January this year, with a

timeline of seven months for

the necessary repairs.

This programme included

the ship’s engines, mechanical

and electrical equipment

and the steelwork, and has

progressed as the dredger

owners have paid for the spare

parts.

Dormac hopes to be able to

stick to the original schedule,

and this repair and refit is

expected to be finished by

August.