Booster Stations

Damen Field Service Engineers can assist your crew in the fast mobilisation of the Booster Station. The remote control from the dredger will need installation and fine tuning, and the crew can be trained on the use of the Booster Station and its controls.

All Damen equipment, including Booster Stations, has been designed to be repairable. This means that your Booster Station can be used for decades. Damen ensures that spare parts will remain available during the economic lifetime of the booster unit. Moreover, our team of Field Service Engineers is ready to assist to keep your dredging equipment going.

You don’t have to build Damen equipment at a Damen yard. We can support construction at any yard in the world.

We provide a wide range of financing arrangements for all types of Damen vessels, equipment and products.

Damen is a family-owned international shipyard group committed to sustainability and innovation. Our mission is to secure tomorrow for the next generation by caring for our oceans, seas, lakes, and rivers.

Sustainability: Damen aims to be the world's most sustainable maritime solution provider. We focus on reducing emissions, circular design, and integrating new technologies to minimise environmental impact. Our initiatives include developing zero-emission vessels, using renewable energy sources, and promoting sustainable practices throughout the lifecycle of our products. 

Global presence: Damen operates 35 shipyards worldwide and has a strong network of Service Hubs across five continents. This global presence ensures that we can provide local support and maintain close relationships with our customers, no matter where they are.

In summary, Damen is dedicated to building a sustainable future through innovative maritime solutions and a customer-centric approach.

Damen is at the forefront of maritime innovation, delivering cutting-edge solutions that enhance performance and reduce environmental impact. Our key innovations include:

• Electrification: We are pioneering the electrification of ships, focusing on energy management and efficient electrical systems to create fully electric vessels.

• Digitalisation: Damen integrates advanced digital technologies, including digital twins and automation systems, to improve vessel performance and operational efficiency.

• Sustainable Solutions: Our research and development efforts are geared towards zero-emission vessels, alternative fuels, and energy-saving techniques to minimise the maritime industry's environmental footprint.

• Hydromechanics: We explore air lubrication, fit-for-purpose designs, and autonomous navigation to reduce energy and power demand while enhancing safety and operability.

• Structural Engineering: Innovative application of materials and optimisation of structural engineering ensure our ships are safe, reliable, and high-quality.

Generally speaking, dredging is the process to remove sediment from a water body such as a pond, a lake, a harbour basin, a river or even the sea bed. The sediment which is removed varies, and can be classified as silt, sand or gravel. These dredged materials are transported to another location.

The purpose of dredging roughly falls into two categories: sediment has to be taken out to clean an area, or the sediment itself is of interest for building purposes.

When an area is cleaned by a dredger, it is called ‘maintenance dredging’. This type of dredging is very frequent: all harbours located on rivers will receive a constant influx of sediment. To keep these harbours accessible, this sediment has to be removed. Another reason to deploy dredgers is the constant need for building materials. Sand is required for road construction, and concrete for building activities requires sand and gravel.

Dredging is the complete process to excavate and remove sediment. Excavation can be done in two ways: by an excavator or digger, resulting in a mechanical excavation, which is called “mechanical dredging”. The removal of the sediment is done by dumper trucks.

The alternative is “hydraulic dredging” where the digging action is done by a suction head, and the entire dredging process and sediment removal by a dredge pump. All Damen dredging equipment is hydraulic dredging equipment, thus fitted out with a dedicated dredge pump.

Dredgers can be divided into two categories: self-propelled dredgers and stationary dredgers.

Self-propelled dredgers include, for instance, Trailing Suction Hopper Dredgers (TSHDs). These have their own cargo hold (‘the hopper’) to transport the removed sediment. They load their hopper using a trailing pipe system which is fitted out with a dredge pump, or by using an on-board excavator.

Stationary dredgers such as Cutter Suction Dredgers (CSD) do not have a propulsion system. They move their suction head by using winches and a spud anchoring system. Stationary dredgers do not have the possibility to store the removed sediment. It is pumped away directly using a floating pipe line behind the dredger.

Maintenance dredging is a widespread dredging task. The continuous influx of sediment by river flow or wave action of the sea results in sedimentation, thus shallower waters. To keep harbours open for traffic, or to ensure proper drainage of an area, maintenance dredging is key. A special category of maintenance dredging is ‘environmental dredging’, which is specifically dredging contaminated layers of sediment to clean up the spot.

The second main dredging type is ‘capital dredging’. This is dredging in a new location, or dredging in untouched soil. It can, for instance, aim to reclaim land to create new infrastructure. Major examples are new port areas or new airports outside congested coastal cities. Another example is deepening an existing harbour to accommodate larger vessels.