A first for Irish ports has begun at the Port of Waterford, where a dredger currently involved in maintenance operations is being fuelled by hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), writes Jehan Ashmore.
The Port of Waterford, along with Dutch dredging company Boskalis have partnered with Certa Ireland to supply HVO for the 92m dredger Causeway. The dredging maintenance campaign is taking place between the port’s main facility at Belview Terminal and the mouth of the Waterford estuary and is expected to take approximately two weeks.
By utilising HVO on board Causeway instead of Marine Gas Oil, the port claims the alternative fuel will prevent 100 tonnes of carbon emitted into the atmosphere during the maintenance campaign. In addition to the port's reduction in consumption of natural resources.
When Causeway berths at Belview on the River Suir, this is where road tankers transfer the HVO to the trailing suction hopper dredger (TSHD). The refueling process required four tanker loads, which themselves were run on the HVO.
The maintenance campaign has been contracted through Cork-based Irish Dredging Ltd, which also has access to a Boskalis subsidiary, the UK-based Royal Boskalis Westminster, with its fleet range of vessels.
Over the years, the Cypriot-flagged Causeway has become a familiar sight on Waterford estuary and at Dublin Port where last year, HVO was first trailed on one of their pilot cutters.
